Habitat for Humanity Chapter
Our purpose is to make all Escapees aware of Habitat International, and Care-A-Vanners. We hope to show how to enjoy the best of the RV lifestyle while making an active contribution to the elimination of poverty housing in this country and abroad.
(This page maintained by Allen Downs. Last modified: 7/22/2010 7:02:24 PM Central time.)
Escapees BOF (Birds of a Feather) groups are comprised of people who share a common interest. In order to belong to a BOF, one must be a member in good standing of the Escapees RV Club. HFH is dedicated to the Ideal that all people deserve a simple, decent place to live, on terms they can afford.
• Remember, we are providing not a Hand Out, but a Hand Up
Benefits of Joining HFH BoF:
Please complete and mail the application found near the bottom of this page.
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We schedule at least one ‘ALL’ Escapee Build each year.
Upcoming all Escapee builds:
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Escapees BOF: Habitat For Humanity Newsletter
Vol 9 Issue 3 - July 2010
The BOF-HFH is a certified Birds of a Feather group of the Escapees RV Club. It supports the efforts of HFH and the Care-A- Vanners. To belong you must be a member of the Escapees RV Club. Contact the club at 1-888-757-2582. For further information e-mail hfhbof@escapees.com or visit our website at http:// www.escapees.com/h4h/
BOF Officers:
President – Rich & Jan Harper`
Vice-President - Jim & Kathy McBride`
Secretary - Volunteer Still needed`
Treasurer- Sally Hedberg `
`
Non-elected:`
Data Base, Membership & E-mail - Allen Downs`
Wagon Master- Volunteer Still needed`
Historian - Colleen Moore`
Newsletter Editor - Joyce Space`
Chapter & BOF Coordinators - Denny & Susie Orr`
Contacts:`
BOF:`
E-mail address - hfhbof@escapees.com`
Website - http://www.escapees.com/h4h/`
Yahoo Group – http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/escapees_HFH_BOF
Voicemail info - 888-757-7701 ext. 8085.
Care-A-Vanners:
rvinfodesk@habitat.org
Phone: 1-800-Habitat (422-4828) ext. 7534
Habitat For Humanity:
www.habitat.org.
President’s Message:
Hope everyone is having good summer. The Escapade will be in Goshen, Indiana September 12th thru 17th. The Habitat Business Meeting and Social is scheduled for Wednesday 10:15-11:45am in the HFA Building at Escapade – Jan & I will see you there.
ATTENTION ALL CLUB MEMBERS – HELP – At this Business Meeting there will be election for new Officers - FOR THE CLUB TO CONTINUE ON , VOLUNTEERS MUST STEP-UP TO BE AN ELECTED OFFICER. Jan & I will be retiring from the President and Secretary positions this fall.
I would ask that you prayerfully consider putting on a Leadership hat. If New Volunteer Officers are not available by the HFH BoF Business meeting, there will be no option but a vote to disband. I feel bad that this may happen, because I feel that the Escapee Care-A-Vanner’s is a great Group of individuals, but we need some new leadership.
Position task are not that hard or time consuming and the Leadership team will help mentor anyone who volunteers for a position. At least one of the Elected Officers should plan on attending the Escapades. For additional information on any of the Positions please contact me at 256-457-3252 or 3483ha@bellsouth.net .
You might have noticed that there is only one story in this newsletter about members’ build experiences. If all members who go on a build would share just a brief write-up of their experience it would really help; especially those new members who are hesitant about going on a build. Also let us know where you are planning any future builds. You may get other Escapees to join you. Let us know about your favorite affiliates!
Welcome New Members:
Marti Verkuilen & Charlie Tiebout SKP 85882.They wrote: "We joined HFH in Seattle but have only been on a one day build. Marti recently spent a week in New Orleans with an organization called 'One Brick' helping to rebuild 3 different homes. 22 of us lived in a 3 bedroom 2 bath home for a week. We got along great but being able to use our RV at a build site is even better!"
Welcome Marti & Charlie and thanks for the write up!
YouTube Video:
The following ‘You Tube’ video is an inspiring documentary produced by the Bayou Area HFH Affiliate. We had the pleasure of working with Leon & Sharone Durand last year [The first couple on the video]. At the time work was being done on three homes and they were there every day working and doing what was need on theirs and the other homes. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=laFtpEz_xSA
Our First RV Care-A-Vanner Build: By Brenda and Scott Schnelle, May 2010
We just completed our first Habitat RV Care-A-Vanners build in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. It was a two-week build with perfect weather, a great team of volunteers and helpful RV team leaders, Jay and Joyce Rush. Now that we are recovering from our soreness, we look forward to another build in our future.
As a first time Care-A-Vanner, I was not sure what to expect. Although I was familiar with Habitat for Humanity's program and had raised funds for the organization, I had never actually been on a build. What an experience!
We got to Tahlequah the Friday before the build began. The RV parking for this build was at the United Methodist Children’s Home, a gorgeous campus with a great place to park and ample space for everyone. Our miniature schnauzers, known as "the girls," loved all the grass, the places to walk and the deer that were in the wooded area behind us. We could not have asked for a nicer place and appreciated that there was a place to do laundry and somewhere to gather.
We were able to meet everyone at the potluck dinner on Sunday evening. We ate lots of good food, received plenty of information about what was going to happen for the week and had a chance to start getting to know everyone. It was a fun way to get started.
Bright and early Monday morning, we made our way to the job site. As we gathered for devotions and job assignments, I could not help but wonder how we would ever manage to turn that pile of lumber and a concrete slab into a real house. By break time, however, we could already see progress! By the end of the day, it was already starting to look like a house. Wow!
This build progressed pretty quickly, I was told, because we had a lot of people involved, and enough of them were experienced enough to keep the rest of us “newbies” on track. I learned something every day and pounded in more nails than I ever thought possible—and I did not even do any roofing! What a way to build muscle—both physical and spiritual.
There was time for visiting, laughter and lots of food during the build. Many new friends were made, and we hope to be able to work with some of them again on future builds. Everyone we asked said they wanted to participate in another build. We are already checking our schedule to see where we can fit in a build!
We leave Tahlequah with a sense of accomplishment and a feeling of pride that soon another family will be able to move into their Habitat home. We feel a bit sad we will not have the same great group on our next build, but we also feel anticipation for more adventures. Where will it be? Who will we meet? What new skills will we learn?
I am ready. Let's get started!
Message from Chapter/BOF Coordinators:
Do you display your Escapees decal on your RV and truck or car? The Volunteer Club Representatives regularly offer members either the 5” or 10” free decals when they attend rallies. We, as VCRs, tell folks to be proud to show that they are Escapees members and that Escapees stop for Escapees when in need of assistance along the way. We have stopped to ask if assistance is needed when we have seen an RV stopped along side of the road – especially if they have a SKP decal in view. Often they will say, they are okay or that help is on the way.
We can personally attest that the Escapees spirit of Caring and Sharing is alive and well. After attending a recent rally in North Carolina, our diesel engine did a shake, rattle and smoke show! Yikes we were on a narrow curvy two lane road with no pull offs. We coasted to a wide spot in the road and called our road service Coach-Net. While waiting for a tow truck every Escapees RV that passed us stopped to see if we were okay or needed any help. We were grateful for their caring and their concern, but alas there was nothing they could do, but lend us their support. It is nice to know that SKPs really do stop for SKPs and SKP to still CARE and SHARE the spirit of Escapees.
Our diesel engine needs to be replaced (boo-hoo!) so it is still in the shop. Not a fun experience, but glad to know SKPs care. May your travels be smooth and uneventful and do display your Escapees decal. You just never know when you may need a SKP Friend. SKP Hugs, Susie & Denny Orr
Special Need for a Build:
We are in MI the next 6 weeks and just confirmed our participation in the build in Shelby MI, August 1-15. They only have one other Care-A-Vanner couple and he is having eye surgery on August 4 so will be out of commission for a bit afterward. They are looking for a total of 9 couples so will be grateful for any and all that join us! There is no cost for the campground located in Pentwater...River Farm RV Park. The contact person is Gary Dode (231-898-2048). John & Karen Knoll (wandering...but not lost!)
From Care-A-Vanners Coordinators Newsletter July 2010 - Mary and Tony Campbell
Dear Care-A-Vanners,
Happy summer! We hope you are fitting in all the graduations, picnics, weddings and other joys of the season, and staying cool in the process.
We continue working hard from the road. This month, we had a conference call with tech staff in Atlanta, others in Americus, Mary in the RV in Michigan, and Tony in the middle of a bike ride in Ohio!
Online registration is coming. Changes have been made in the database so that generic information from affiliates can be more specific. For example, the affiliate now specifies 50-amp, 30-amp, 20-amp or other when listing if they offer electrical hookups. The change has already been implemented for the affiliates; next is the part that you will see. Stay tuned!
Thanks for all you do to support Habitat for Humanity!
In partnership,
Mary (and Tony) Campbell
Report Care-A-Vanner hours
We record the number of volunteer hours Care-A-Vanners contribute. Team leaders provide this information at the end of each build, but individuals should report hours served through drop-in or ongoing builds to the Care-A-Vanner office at Habitat for Humanity International. If you build with an affiliate as a Care-A-Vanner outside of a scheduled build, please report your total hours worked to the Care-A-Vanner desk by sending a short e-mail to rvinfodesk@habitat.org.
Join another RV Care-A-Vanner build
Sign up to participate in a build now! The need continues to be great, and there are many opportunities for you to contribute. Look at the online build listing or ongoing RV host sites. [ On HFH Care-A-Vanner Web site]
Featured builds of the month
Shelby/Hart, Michigan. Oceana County HFH. August 1–15, 2010. Need nine rigs.
Waterloo, Iowa. Iowa Heartland HFH. August 15–29, 2010. Need three rigs. Abita Springs, Louisiana. St. Tammany West HFH. November 28–December 12, 2010. Need 12 rigs.
Be an RV Team Leader
Please note, an RV Care-A-Vanner team leader’s role is to help manage team logistics. While RV leaders with construction skills are certainly valued, the affiliate is responsible for construction supervision. If you are interested in leading but your construction skill set is still growing, consider splitting duties with a co-leader. Many co-leaders that divide work, one focusing on logistics (e-mailing, paperwork, social activities, etc.) and another focused on acting as a construction activity liaison have found the partnership eased their work and contributed to safe, fun builds. Many of our scheduled builds still do not yet have team leaders. If you would like to volunteer as a team leader, the following builds can use your coordinating skills. Please call us at 1-800-422-4828 ext. 7534 or 229-410-7534 if you are willing to help in this way.
Care–A–Vanner Builds
Upcoming builds seeking Care-A-Vanners!
The build list and ongoing builds page are updated each weekend if any additions or changes have occurred. Check the “as of” date at the top of the build list to find out when the page was last updated.:
Location Dates Rigs still needed Cost Team Leader Needed
Sheridan, Wyoming July 25–August 8, 2010 6 $ X
El Paso, Texas August 1–15, 2010 5 $ X
Shelby/Hart, Michigan August 1–15, 2010 9 0
Tillamook, Oregon August 1–15, 2010 1 $$ X
Santa Fe, New Mexico August 8–22, 2010 6 $$ X
Mankato, Minnesota August 15–29, 2010 3 $ X
Waterloo, Iowa August 15–29, 2010 3 $
Sheridan, Wyoming August 22–Sept. 5, 2010 9 $ X
Sheridan, Wyoming September 5–19, 2010 6 $ X
Brookings, SD September 12–26, 2010 8 0
El Dorado, Arkansas September 12–26, 2010 6 0
Grand Rapids, Minnesota September 12–26, 2010 1 0
Greensboro, Georgia September 19–26, 2010 3 $ X
Sheridan, Wyoming Sept. 19–October 3, 2010 9 $
Brookings, South Dakota Sept. 26–October 10, 2010 7 0
Richmond, Indiana Sept. 26–October 10, 2010 2 $ X
Santa Fe, New Mexico Sept. 26–October 10, 2010 4 $$ X
Brookings, SD*** October 10–22, 2010 8 0
Dade City, Florida October 10–22, 2010 7 0 X
Thibodaux, Louisiana October 10–22, 2010 1 $ X
Sebring, Florida November 1–15, 2010 12 $$ X
Dade City, Florida November 7–21, 2010 3 0 X
Thibodaux, Louisiana November 7–21, 2010 2 $ X
Abita Springs, La Nov. 28–Dec. 12, 2010 12 $
Dade City, Florida December 5–19, 2010 1 0 X
Sebring, Florida December 5–19, 2010 12 $$ X
Thibodaux, Louisiana December 5–19, 2010 2 $ X
Sebring, Florida January 2–16, 2011 12 $$ X
Sebring, Florida January 16–30, 2011 12 $$ X
Sebring, Florida February6–20, 2011 12 $$ X
Dade City, Florida March13–27, 2011 9 0 X
Taos, New Mexico May 8–22, 2011 3 $$$ X
Parking cost legend: 0 = No cost for parking; $ = $10 or less per night; $$ = $11–15 per night; $$$ = $16 or more per night
To sign up for these builds, please call 1-800-422-4828 ext. 7534 or 229-410-7534 or email rvinfodesk@habitat.org. If you leave a message, please remember to spell your last name and provide your zip code. Because we coordinate from the road, please allow 48 hours for a response. If you cannot reach Mary and need more immediate assistance, please call the Volunteer Mobilization desk at 1-800-422-4828 ext. 7530 or 229-410-7530. We are happy to help you find a build that suits your needs and answer any questions you have!
***Denotes A Brush with Kindness project.
Note: Builds are automatically scheduled from Sunday to Sunday, though builds typically end on Friday evening with Saturday departure. Your team leader or affiliate host will inform you of your build’s exact start and end date.
Escapees Habitat for Humanity Birds of a Feather Renewal / New Member Application
The membership year is May – April. Multi-year renewals are welcome. Dues are $5 per year per SKP number (extra charge for US Mail delivery of newsletter). You must be a current Escapee member to join HFH BoF.
Renewal (# of Years)l__________ New member (# of Years)___________Info Update only_______
Name(s) _________________________________________ SKP# __________ Date ___________
Email ___________________________________________________________________________
2nd Email_________________________________________________________________________
Phone(s) Home__________________________Cell______________________________________
Address ________________________________________________________________________
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City _______________________________________ State _______ ZIP _____________________
HFH BoF newsletters are published quarterly and delivered as a.PDF email attachment unless you specify otherwise by checking an option below. Please be sure we have your correct email address:
I want my HFH BoF Newsletter delivered:
_____By email as a PDF attachment (This is the default, and recommended, option)
_____By email as a plain text file (recommended only for those who can’t receive large emails or email
attachments)
_____By US mail (There is a $3/year charge in addition to membership dues for this option.)
Type of Rig (Circle 0ne) MHA, MHB MHC, 5W, TLR, TrkCmpr Length ______ # of slides_____
Have you served as an HFH build Team Leader?______
Number of HFH builds attended in 2009______ Number of HFH builds in a typical year?_______
The HFH BoF plans to publish a member roster. May we include your email address?__________
I want _____ HFH BoF decals and have enclosed $1.00 for each, plus 44 cents for postage.
Checks should be made out to: HFH BoF, and mailed to:
Allen Downs, 120 Rainbow Dr #2045, Livingston, TX 77399-1020.
Please Write “US Funds” on Canadian checks – Thank you.
Amount Enclosed__________________
That’s it – you’re done! Thank You
The BOF-HFH is a certified Birds of a Feather group of the Escapees RV Club. It supports the efforts of HFH and the Care-A- Vanners. To belong you must be a member of the Escapees RV Club. Contact the club at 1-888-757-2582. For further information email hfhbof@escapees.com or visit our website at http://www.escapees.com/h4h/
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Your help please: Some of our newsletters have come back because of invalid email or US mail addresses. If you're an HFH BoF member, and you've changed your email or home address recently, please help us stay in touch by sending your name, SKP Number, and new email or home address to hfhbof@escapees.com or Allen Downs 120 Rainbow Drive #2045, Livingston TX 77399-1020. Thanks.
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Upcoming Rallies and EventsBOF Voice Mail Information: 888-757-7701 ext. 8085 Please call this Voice Mail number for the latest Habitat for Humanity Birds of a Feather Group information. BOF OfficersElected:
• President: Rich & Jan Harper SKP 86920
• Vice President: Jim & Kathy McBride SKP 42623
• Treasurer: Sally Hedberg SKP 49586
• Secretary: Vacant – Looking for a Volunteer
Appointed:
• Newsletter Editor/Publisher: Joyce Space SKP 61818 – A newsletter is published in January, April, July and October
• Membership Database, Webmaster and Email: Allen Downs SKP 45017
• Historian: Collen Moore SKP 85514
• Wagon Master/Build Coordinator for the BoF HFH: Linda Walden & Lynn Laymon
For more information, please contact:
E-Mail: Habitat for Humanity Birds of a Feather Group Mailing address:
Habitat for Humanity BoF
c/o Sally Hedberg
213 Rainbow Dr #11393
Livingston, TX 77399-2013 This page has been visited 6312 times since 20 November 2007. |
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