Volunteer Stories

Students Who Serve

At 8:30 on any given fall Saturday morning, you’d probably expect to find high school students still enjoying the comforts of their beds, grabbing some extra winks after a week of early-morning classes.

Not the members of the Jackson High School Habitat Club, though.

This group of dedicated kids is already on a Habitat build site, talking, laughing and hard at work helping another local family achieve the dream of homeownership.

With around 100 members, the JHS Habitat Club is an official campus chapter of Habitat for Humanity. The club is overseen by a faculty advisor, and students serve as officers of the club. In addition to providing labor to help build the home, the students also do fundraisers throughout the year to assist in funding the home.

In September 2009, the JHS Habitat Club will begin construction on its 13th Habitat home.

A Heart for Families

For Habitat volunteer Doyle Luckenbaugh, celebrating his birthday in the hot sun of a construction site was a fitting way to mark the occasion.

“How better to spend your birthday than putting soffit and fascia on a Habitat house?” he asks with a smile.

Such a statement isn’t surprising, considering Doyle’s lifetime of service to others.

volunteer-story-doyle-sm

Born the youngest of 6 children in a Pennsylvania Dutch farming family, he grew up learning the importance of working hard and offering a helping hand when needed. After spending some time in the Marine Corp, he attended seminary and spent the next couple decades serving as a pastor in northeast Ohio, and raising a family with his wife, Marion.

For the last seven years, Doyle has used his talents to offer a hand up to families in need of decent housing, by building with the Thursday Crew. He enjoys the camaraderie of this group of regular volunteers, and is thankful that he can use his skills to help others. “Growing up on the farm, I’m a ‘jack of all trades, master of none,’ which seems to work well in Habitat-land,” he laughs.

The fellowship and hands-on work are just icing on the cake to Doyle, though. For him, the real satisfaction comes from knowing he is helping families in need achieve their dreams.

“For me, the biggest blessing is meeting the partner families and seeing the joy on their faces as they accomplish the goal of decent housing for their family. That is something money can’t buy.”

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Contact Information

Habitat for Humanity of Greater Stark & Carroll Counties

2800 Leemont Ave. NW
Canton OH, 44709

Phone: 330-493-6500
Fax: 330-493-6501

Email us: info@habitatstark.org

Office Hours:
Tuesday - Friday: 8:30am - 4pm
Saturday: 8am - 1pm
Monday and Sunday - Closed

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