WINSTON-SALEM — Most times when you think of spring break you think of surfing, sunning or camping. But a group of students from Minnesota selflessly passed on a cushy vacation to donate their time in the Triad.
More than two dozen students from Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota are spending their spring break building a house in Winston-Salem with Habitat for Humanity.
For them, this is a tropical getaway.
“We come from Minnesota during our spring break. However, our spring break can still consist of a lot of snow,” said team leader and senior Ethan Forney. “75 degrees is much different from at home being 15 degrees.”
Every day this week, the students arrive at a home on Carver School Road in Winston-Salem and get to work. They’re labor is invaluable.
“Weekdays we don’t get as many volunteers, because people are working,” said Debbie Cesta with Habitat for Humanity of Forsyth County. “But these college students, when they come for the seven weeks straight that they come for spring break, they really bring us a tremendous workforce and we really do depend on that,” she said.
28 students who could have done anything else this week have chosen to come here and help. They’re hammering nails, placing shingles and cutting boards.
It takes about two months to build a house from the ground up. The Gustavus Adolphus students are here in the middle of a build and it will continue after they leave.
Habitat for Humanity of Forsyth County builds about 30 homes each year.
“It’s a fantastic way to get to see the country as well as just the rewarding side of it,” said Forney.
They’re getting a new view while creating one in this neighborhood.