This spring break, students from Mount Holyoke will be traveling to the old mining town of Lebanon, Pennsylvania for a Habitat for Humanity program in an effort to build houses. Through research, students Thu Truong ’13 and Victoria Schmidt-Scheuber ’12 discovered that 16% of the relatively small population of the town was living below the poverty line, struggling economically.
Students Song Ge ’13 and Vanessa Zapata ’13 will be volunteering in this effort along with ten other students. This endeavor involves more than just the raw functionalism of building houses, and indeed, efforts like these are known to contribute towards building camaraderie within the community. “I think this trip is going to be fun and rewarding,” said Zapata. “I am hoping to learn about building houses but also to make friends with the group and meet new people.”
Zapata is also involved with other community service efforts such as the Big Sister, Little Sister program, La Unidad and the Food Justice Society. This Habitat for Humanity endeavor is part of C.A.U.S.E.’s portfolio of projects.
Schmidt-Scheuber hopes not only to make a difference in others’ lives by volunteering, but also hopes to experience personal growth. “Volunteering is an important and rewarding responsibility for every person,” she said. “Through successful volunteer work, I can improve both society and myself.” Additionally, Schmidt-Scheuber encourages other Mount Holyoke women to partake in similar community service projects during their undergraduate education. “As part of its mission statement, Mount Holyoke ‘empowers women with the knowledge, insight, and self-confidence to serve and to lead.’ Service and leadership doesn’t have to wait until graduation — any time is a good time to build on strong foundations and make positive change.”
And Zapata thinks that this mission statements is something worth embodying. “The more Mount Holyoke engages with groups outside of the campus or volunteers in general, people will see what Mount Holyoke women are willing to do to help and be active participants in society and around the world,” said Zapata. “If we all helped out in some small way, it leads to a better world as a whole,” she said.
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