Thursday, May 24, 2007
What an awesome sight to behold!!!On Monday morning, there were twenty slabs in Gulfport, Mississippi. And this Thursday afternoon, when I got out of the car to the beautiful music of hammers at work, there were twenty structures that are beginning to look an awful lot like houses! The Americorps Build-a-Thon with our Habitat for Humanity affiliate is clearly a stunning success!
There is something inspirational about the construction of a Habitat for Humanity house, but the sight of so many at once, staffed by talented young men and women from Americorps, was simply unbelievable.
Anyone on the Mississippi Gulf Coast ought to make a trip over this weekend if at all possible. Just get on Old Pass Road directly behind Gulfport Memorial Hospital and turn on 45th (or 44th, I forget, whichever one you see there). You will be more than impressed.
I also had the unexpected pleasure of seeing my old friend, Eric Cullen. Eric came to the Mississippi Gulf Coast after Katrina to help jump-start our affiliate's construction team. He eventually moved back to Seattle, but he had to come back for this special building event. As Hillary and I walked along the construction line, I heard someone call out my name, and it was Eric! It was so neat to see and visit with him again.
BIG HABITAT ANNOUNCEMENT! I'll get to see Eric again next year because there was a big announcement this week: the Jimmy Carter Work Project is coming here next year!!! This is the biggest Habitat event of each year, and we were chosen to play host next year! Habitat junkies from all over the world converge on one site each year to do amazing things, and we get the best seat in the house in 2008. It ought to be unforgettable.
