Habitat for Humanity works on Martin Luther King Day

Dunmore, W.Va. – Almost Heaven Habitat For Humanity volunteers arrived in Dunmore Monday morning to build a handicapped ramp for a local family. The volunteers included members of the Potomac State College Campus Christian Ministry.

Erin is a PSU freshman from Pittsburgh.

“This is my first year doing Habitat For Humanity, but I’ve been helping out people in the community for a long, long time – since I was really little,” she said. “It’s good to help people who don’t have as much and if I can lend a hand and help someone in need, then that’s the most important thing. Like when you do, you just feel so good about yourself and you feel glad that you’re helping other people.”

Bria Holmes is a freshman from Baltimore.

“[I’m] helping out with the CCM from Potomac State College,” she said. “It’s like a Christian group to help youth and be involved with working with other people. In church I work with nursery and little kids and it helps me to help more people out. So, it is of great value to help other people out.”

Casey Kidder, from Grant County, started volunteering when he was in high school.

“CCM is a helping hands for the campus, where you’re allowed to go to different job sites and you get to do a lot of activities, volunteering and everything,” he said. “It’s a real interesting place to be. I’ve been involved since, actually, high school – 12th grade. I started helping out when I realized that there was volunteering help needed and I tried it and felt good about it. They get a good feeling when they meet new people and see how happy they are. It’s a really good feeling inside, after you finished and accomplished something. It makes that person feel really good about them.”

Tiffany is another CCM member.

“Our campus and community ministries at Potomac State, we came out to help out today,” she said. “We’re just trying to give back to our community. We’re helping this family build a wheelchair ramp. it feels good to give back to the community – people that need the help and stuff.”

Almost Heaven Habitat member Julia Bauserman, of Bartow, was present at Dr. King’s “I Have A Dream” speech in Washington, D.C. on August 28, 1963.

“He was a wonderful speaker,” she said. “He was very inspiring, drew the people and just put in their hearts this vision that he had. The Sermon on the Mount was a big inspiration to him. But, he was able to give this passion to people – black and white, didn’t matter. They were willing to lay their lives down for the cause and it’s a beautiful thing to watch that develop.

“His work is important because it’s not about money. It’s not about fame or success. It’s about each other and protecting each other’s value, dignity and worth, in the Earth. To do that, we have to work together. We have to join together. And it’s an ongoing dream. It’s an ongoing vision and it needs to go around the world.”

[Excerpt of Martin Luther King, Jr. speech on August 28, 1963. Audio of entire speech can be found at: http://archive.org/details/MartinLutherKing-IHaveADream]