Hammer & Nail

Hi Habitaters,

Hope all is going well for you this semester. I would just like to take this time to say, "THANKS FOR ALL YOUR HARD WORK WITH HABITAT." I’m happy to see so many people help in eliminating poverty housing from the world. This semester has had a lot of great memories that will never be forgotten. From hosting the first Campus Chapter Retreat in Habitat history to becoming the first Campus Chapter to financially support another Campus Chapter in Botswana, Africa. I’m glad to be a part of something so great and rewarding.

Aside from this, I would like to say that everyone of you are like my second family. We all support each other and are there to help. This is what makes Habitat for Humanity a great success.

I wish you the best of luck for finals. Have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. See you next semester. I leave with a quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson-"It is one of the most beautiful compensations of this life that no man can sincerely try to help another without also helping himself."

Robyn Radeske

"For a community to be whole and healthy it must be based on people’s love and concern for each other."

-Millard Fuller

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to take this opportunity to fill you in on the latest fundraising events and also thank everyone for the tremendous support you have given to make these events so successful! Recently we’ve had two bake sales/candy bars sales in the UC and collectively we raised over $50 (WOW!). Also, November 19th, we held our annual Cardboard Shack Sleepout. I think all of us who attended would agree that we had a blast-playing 500 for two hours and engaging in a heated game of nerf baseball! We also realized how unbelievably cold and uncomfortable it is to sleep outside during the frigid winter. Hopefully, this event helped to raise awareness about homelessness issues for each and every person who happened to pass by us on that Wednesday night; for I can definitely say that it was an eye-opening experience for me.

One quick reminder-keep selling those candy bars and more importantly, spreading the word about Habitat. Thanks, once again!!

Your friend (and fundraising co-chair),

Christy Pruszka

It’s about that time of year when thoughts of Spring Break ‘98 are probably coming to mind. I’m not going to shamelessly plug for your participation in this year’s Habitat trip to West Virginia. By now you’ve all already heard the reasons why you should go. Instead, I want to share with you the real reason for using your Spring Break to help Habitat. That reason is that as creatures on this earth, we are compelled to help those who ask. It is that simple.

This simple truth didn’t make sense to me until I found myself in Coahoma, Mississippi last Spring Break. I first started to realize my obligation to help when I looked at the children of Coahoma. There was this sparkle of hope in their eyes when they looked at our rag tag group of volunteers. Their smiles were contagious to whoever was around them. They were just a bunch of kids who were trying to make it in the world. We were there to make it a little easier for them. What a fantastic responsibility.

But what has kept me in Habitat occurred on our last day in Coahoma. Over lunch, the owner of a Habitat home in Clarksdale, MS talked to a small group of us who were working on putting the finishing touches on her house. To hear her speak and absorb all the emotions she was feeling was simply breath-taking. She spoke to my heart and I found myself wishing that I could do more. I became compelled to action.

And that’s what life is... living so that in healing another’s pain, our own souls are strengthened. Please consider sharing your time this spring with those who need you. You will learn more about life and love than you ever thought possible.

"I don’t know what your destiny will be, but the one thing I know; the only ones among you who will really be happy are those who have sought and found how to serve."--Albert Schweitzer

Nicole Baldwin

I want to update you all on UWW Habitat happenings. I hope that you see the deposit dates for Spring Break, it’s in the newsletter. If you have any questions, call Campus Ministry at 473-5555 for details.

November 14^th and 15^th we hosted the first campus chapter retreat. To those of you who participated, thank you. This retreat was a success. There were nine schools in attendance. The schools who sent representatives included: UW-River Falls, Madison, UW-Stevens Point, UW-Milwaukee, UWC-Parkside, and UW-Whitewater; as well as Carthage, Carroll, and Lakeland Colleges. There were about 40 people who came to share ideas on improving their campus chapter. Once again, thank you to all that participated through housing and/or attending. Be proud to have started another trend with Habitat.

November 19^th was our annual Cardboard Village Sleepout. It was a great opportunity. We raised money and awareness while having fun. We had a few visitors, including Father Jim. "Nice stogy, homey!"

December 8^th were elections for Vice President and Public Relations.

Lastly, as a campus chapter, we are the first to financially support an international chapter of Habitat. This is something to be proud of as we are truly helping the world in eliminating poverty housing. It is now official that we are supporting a chapter in Botswana.

Thank you for all that are working hard to make Habitat happen. As you find out, the volunteer efforts that you provide to Habitat means so much within your own heart as well as those that you are helping. Keep up the great work. Also, if you are interested in writing an article, call me at 472-4214.

Sandy Heidecker

Hello fellow Habitaters. I’m Jim Van De Loo, your friendly co-fundraising chairperson. I’d like to take this time to welcomed all the new members who joined Habitat for Humanity this year. I’d also like to thank all the returning members who’ve stayed to help make this another successful year. To display my gratitude, I decided to put together a crossword puzzle to test your Habitat knowledge. Don’t worry if you can’t answer every question; I still can’t and I wrote them. Good Luck!! Here are the clues:

Down:

1. What some Habitaters are selling to raise money for Spring Break
2. Our main fundraising event for the spring semester is the ______ ____ benefit.
3. The driving force behind Habitat for Humanity (hint: it begins with a V but it’s not Van De Loo)
4. HFH’s most famous supporter and peanut farmer.
5. We belong to a HFH ______ _______
6. Christy and I put the ____ in fundraising.
7. The founder of HFH

Across:

1. As a campus chapter, one of our goals is to build decent, affordable _______.
2. Our Spring Break destination
3. Another goal of a campus chapter is to raise ________
4. _______ for Humanity
5. HFH is not a _________
6. ______ & Nail
7. our final goal as a campus chapter is to increase ______ about affordable housing issues and HFH.