JROTC students gathered around the Habitat for Humanity home in cool air dressed in jeans and boots. Some students were working on laying grass others, like senior Bernado Cervantes, also helped plant the tree.
“It felt good to help out the community a little bit,” Cervantes said.
The week before Thanksgiving break JROTC set up a table during lunches accepting donations to offset the cost of the house they were assisting in building for Habitat for Humanity. They raised about $100 and continue to accept donations.
“I liked that we knew we were helping someone out. It felt good,” senior Brittany Sutton said.
On Nov. 13 JROTC students arrived at the work site in Forest Hill with an already completed layout. They, along with Mansfield and Timberview’s JROTC organization, worked on the landscaping laying grass, planting a tree and putting in a whole flower bed.
“I learned a lot about landscaping because I never did that before,” Sutton said.
Habitat for Humanity, a non-profit Christian organization promoting ministry, believes everyone should have a home. Habitat for Humanity builds houses all over the world and accepts volunteers without discrimination. According to Cervantes working with other schools was also a good experience.
“They’re [other JROTC] very friendly, and I was honored to be working with them for a greater cause,” Cervantes said.
Not until after the Habitat for Humanity homes are built and ready is the family that will live in the house are able to see their future home.
“I wish I could have seen the faces of the people who are going to live in the house.” Cervantes said.
According to Cervantes the work took about three hours and about an hour just to dig the hole for the tree in the fresh clay, which in his opinion, was the hardest and best part.
“In such a little time we made a barren piece of earth into a green and beautiful patch of heaven,” Cervantes said.
Though this is the first year Legacy’s JROTC participated with Habitat for Humanity, Sutton and Cervantes say that they would volunteer again and JROTC will be volunteering with Habitat for Humanity again in the spring.
“I found that the hard work was really worth it,” Cervantes said.
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