Welcome to our trip!

Hello everyone and welcome to the 2017 Gannon Habitat for Humanity ABST blog! Over spring break we will be traveling Abingdon VA, to work with the Habitat Collegiate Challenge. We want to welcome to our blog and encourage you following it while we are on our trip (February25th-March 4th). We before we leave we want to introduce who we are!

Alfred Beckstorm is a junior Mechanical Engineering major and one of the students leaders on the trip. He is originally from Aurora, Ohio. Fun fact, he plays the viola. Alfred wanted to come on this trip because he likes building things and helping people.

Anna Swick is a junior Social Work major and one of the student leaders on the trip. She is originally from Erie, Pennsylvania. Fun fact, she was home-schooled before coming to Gannon. Anna wanted to come on this trip because she is passionate about  Habitat's mission and wanted to learn more about the role she plays in carrying it out.

Brian Collingwood is one of the Gannon staff members on the trip. He is originally from Cleveland, Ohio and received a History from Xavier University. Fun fact, he has a dog named Toby. Brian wanted to come on this trip because he wanted to be a part of Gannon's commitment to service and volunteering; it is important to him that he exercises his social responsibility through an ABST trip with students.

Rhonna Bollig is one of the Gannon staff members on the trip. She is originally from Washington, D.C. This will be Rhonna's 8th ABST but 1st time participating at Gannon. Whean asked why she wanted to be on this trip she said, "Participating and leading alternative breaks when I was a student, I built some incredible friendships with other students that I may not have otherwise had the chance to get to know. Now, as a staff, participating in alternative breaks gives me the opportunity to build relationships with the students I serve.  Being part of their learning, while serving another community, is a truly rewarding experience.  I was interested in this particular trip because I appreciate the mission of Habitat for Humanity and am looking forward to learning more." 

Summer Young is a sophomore Healthcare Management Major. She is from Kittanning Pennsylvania. Fun Fact, she loves antique and vintage things. She wanted to come on this trip because she is apart of Habitat and wanted to experience something new and do something good for others.

Jennafer Skarupski is a senior Occupational Therapy major from Erie, Pennsylvania. Fun fact, in high school she was awarded the most service hours in her class She wanted to come of this trip because she loves building things and learning how to do new things.

Steve Caulfield is a senior Computer Science major from Erie, Pennsylvania. Fun fact, Steve has nine siblings. He wanted to come on this trip because he has always been interested in the work habitat does and has wanted to volunteer with them, so when he saw this chance he tried to take it.

Rachel Amorose is a sophomore Electrical Engineering major from Moon Township, Pennsylvania. Fun fact, she has a pug named Rocky and she loves him very much. She wanted to come on this trip because she is on the board for Habitat and really enjoys the builds and sense of community the bring.

Keisha Winger is a sophomore nursing student from Oil City, Pennsylvania. Fun fact, she can play the clarinet and saxophone. Keisha wanted to come on this trip because she is apart of the Habitat group at Gannon.

Catie Strout is a sophomore Physician Assistant major from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Fun fact, she is obsessed with dogs. Catie wanted to come on this trip because  she is a member of Gannon's chapter of Habitat for Humanity and she wanted to see how Habitat positively impacts areas other than Erie.

Hannah Rhodes is a freshman Psychology/ Social Work major from Raleigh, North Carolina. Fun fact, she was a vegetarian for a year. Hannah is super excited to work in Abingdon, Virginia!

Sydney Seabrooke is a freshman Sport and Exercise Science/ Pre-PT major from Erie, Pennsylvania. Fun fact, she dressed her dog up as a shark for Halloween. She wanted to come on this trip because she has always wanted to participate in a Habitat for Humanity build.

Chris Devine is a sophomore Mechanical Engineering Major from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Fun fact, he plays Ultimate Frisbee at Gannon. Chris wanted to come on this trip because he wanted to get involved with Habitat and do something positive and helpful over spring break. He also wanted to meet new people.

Michael Anubodem Muanya Awungnkeng is a junior Philosophy major from Buffalo, New York. Fun fact, he is originally from Cameroon. Michael wanted to come on this trip because he was suppose to go on the Habitat trip last year, but due to circumstance couldn't so he decided to come this year. He wants to give to his community and build a fellowship with other students. 

Great Day to be Great

Hello everybody! After starting off our day with a wonderful pancake breakfast, we followed it with our most productive day on the worksite. To go along with that the weather was the best it has been yet! As for progress on the house, we finished flooring the second floor, framed, sided and put up two walls on the second floor.  Completing all this in one day has everyone's spirits up as we continue to have a blast together. 

For dinner we treated ourselves to some fantastic homemade BBQ at Fat Daddy's where we got to meet the Fat Daddy himself.

After this we closed out the day by playing games together and enjoying each other's company.

~Eric

hump day

After an awesome wake up call today for hump day, we started to lay down the subfloors for the second story. Some of us also worked on the last couple walls for the first floor. 

After a great day at work, we looked up at all that we had accomplished within the past few days. 

When we got back to the church, we finshed our soup for the potluck and helped the people from the community set up for it. We had a blast at the potluck with the people that live around here. After that they said we could stay and hear the pastor talk about the word around the cross. We also got to hear the Organist play after the potluck. He was very good and nice to talk to.

Alfred

Movin' on Up

Hello everyone! It was a great 2nd day at the worksite. It was 60 degrees the whole day without a cloud in the sky. It was so awesome to have such beautiful weather! We arrived to the worksite and started off with a prayer. The work immediately started and we had a steady pace the whole day. We finished framing almost all of the first floor, nailed plywood to all the exterior walls, and even started working on the flooring for the second floor! Talk about a lot of progress! The team has been working hard and enjoying the time that we have together. I can't wait to see the progress we make for the rest of the week!

Here are some photos of us having a good time at the work site!

Below is a photo of our progress by the end of our second work day. We truly are movin' on up!

In continuing this great day, we had a delicious dinner of pasta, sauce, garlic bread, and salad. After dinner, we had an interesting scavenger hunt with some tricky riddles. We then ventured outside and it felt like a cool summer night. Some of the group played a game of baseball, until unfortunately the ball was lost. The group hung out for the rest of the night, enjoying each others company. We all have had such a good time together so far, and it keeps getting better each day. We are excited to keep building and having a blast for the rest of the week!

Thanks for reading!

Anna

Getting Hammered

Today started just like yesterday: warm, sunny, and with everyone in good spirits. We packed up our lunches and headed out for our first look at the job site in Seaford, DE, where we would be working on for the week. We arrived early and the Habitat Americorps volunteers were already there getting things set up. In the place of the future home was a flat concrete slab and a pile of lumber nearby. 

We started with a prayer and got to meet the Sussex County Habitat For Humanity worksite supervisor "Bubba" and the Americorps members Hektor, Kyle, and Gary. Everyone was very welcoming and we got started quickly. Over the next hour or so, we really got rolling and by lunchtime we had 2 and a half walls up. It sprinkled on us for an hour or so but cleared up and we experienced a warm sunny day just like yesterday! After lunch, we completed all the exterior walls and several interior walls for the house. 

We all had some new experiences and learned to use tools we hadn't used before. In all, this was a perfect first day and we made incredible progress on the house. Our group, which had previously never worked together before came together to become a very efficient work team. I think we are all excited for tomorrow to see just how much more we can accomplish together!

~Brendan 

Summer in February

Seeing that we all spend at least 9 months out of ten in Erie, we were all extremely excited to wake up to 60 degree weather today!

 We began our day with a Mass at a local Catholic Church and then we set off on our free day. 

We drove to Rehoboth Beach and I can honestly tell you that we were the only people crazy enough to stick our feet in the 38 degree water! A lot of laughs were had by all and the beach was more than we could have imagined! We were able to walk the boardwalk and marvel at how many people and dogs were out; especially the dogs since most of us are going through withdrawal. We ventured into candy stores and it is safe to say that we were the oldest people in the toy stores. Jokes were made and the puns just keep on coming as we continue on this journey. 

As you can see from the photo above, none of us are wearing shoes and our pants are rolled up, so you have to know that we went in:) 

When we returned from the beach, tacos were prepared and enjoyed based off of the fact that there were no leftovers.

I guess you could say the game of the day yesterday was the "song game" and today it was sardines! We used any and all places in the church to hide and I have to say, Brendan was the best hider- we spent at least a half an hour looking for him. 

Here is a picture of me- what you can't see is the fact that I'm hiding in a storage bin in a dark closet. We go hard.

The reflection for tonight consisted of everyone thinking about their comfort zones. Think about it, how comfortable are you starting up a conversation with a stranger? How uncomfortable are you when you sleep on the floor for a week? We asked these questions with the hopes that as the week continues, we become more comfortable with the challenges and tasks we are faced with.

Wish us luck as we begin our work day in the morning, and maybe say a prayer that us accident prone kids don't get hurt :) 

Thanks for reading!

~Morgan 

A Great Time

Hello everyone!

The group had quite a great time during our first day of our ABST journey to Delaware. We left the GU admissions parking lot around 7:30am and arrived to St. Phillips Epicopal Church at 4pm. On our way, the group got to know each other more through conversation and games. A game that we played involved singing songs according to a certain topic. With the topics of run, roll, drive, and time, the group had a bonding experience singing out all the songs that we could recall. This game lasted up to 3 hours and we sure enjoyed every minute of it. 

We arrived to the church and were welcomed by some very nice people affiliated with Habitat for Humanity. We settled in and hung around for a while, continuing to build our relationships with one another. There we many laughs all around the dinner table about things that happened today. Overall, it was a great day. Everyone in the group has already connected in some kind of way, which is absolutely awesome! I am looking forward to serving, laughing, and bonding with these awesome people for the rest over the week! 

Signing off for today, but we will see what tomorrow brings us!

Anna