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thedrifter
02-01-07, 01:40 PM
Marines hammer for Habitat near San Diego

By Gidget Fuentes - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Feb 1, 2007 13:22:11 EST

OCEANSIDE, Calif. — Forget Kevlar helmets, flak jackets and M-16 rifles. A group of Marines in San Diego is slinging hammers today.

Devil dogs from the Marine Corps Recruit Depot are joining local volunteers in a Habitat for Humanity project to build seven townhouses for low-income families in Escondido, Calif., a working-class city north of San Diego.

“This is only one small example of how Marines pride themselves in contributing to the community in which we live,” Brig. Gen. Angela Salinas, the depot commander, said in a statement. “As we are accustomed to spending a large amount of time separated from our families and our homes, it is especially meaningful for us to be able to help someone else have a place to call home.”

The Marines will help frame the new construction for the nonprofit charitable organization, which builds or fixes homes and sells them to needy families for low-cost mortgages. Marines will continue to help with the project each month until it’s completed later this year, depot officials said.

For many, the volunteer project is a change from their usual workday and a chance to get building experience.

“I’m hoping to get a good experience out of it,” said Sgt. Juan Magdaleno, 25, a postal clerk. The project is his first volunteer effort since coming to San Diego from Camp Lejeune, N.C.

When Cpl. Joshua Deutinger learned of the project, he signed up. “I thought it was a pretty neat program,” said Deutinger, 22, a military police canine handler from Fresno, Calif. “It gets me out of the office for a day, and I go build some stuff. I like working with my hands, and I get to help out some unfortunate people.”

“I’m not Mr. Handyman myself,” he added, although he said he helped his father with projects around the house when he was growing up.

Cpl. Alfredo Hernandez, 22, was excited about helping out. The San Diego native used money he saved from a yearlong tour on Okinawa nearly two years ago to buy two small houses, which he spruced up and now rents out.

“It’s a great thing. I think it should be done more often, actually,” said Hernandez, an administrative clerk with the recruit depot’s Headquarters Company. “It’s one of the real good working parties. It’s a good cause.”


Ellie

thedrifter
02-02-07, 07:06 AM
Sharing their skills

20 Marine volunteers help get Habitat project back on schedule
By Rick Rogers
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

February 2, 2007

ESCONDIDO – A popular bumper sticker emblazoned with the Marine Corps emblem reads: “When it absolutely, positively has to be destroyed overnight.”

But Marines are quite adept at building things, too, as they proved yesterday at a Habitat for Humanity project on West Sixth Avenue.

On a muddy lot among clapboard houses, 20 people from the San Diego Marine Corps Recruit Depot worked on a multiunit complex that will soon become townhomes for seven families.

Brig. Gen. Angie Salinas, commanding general for the depot, said construction holds special meaning for her and the other volunteers.

“Marines coach Little League, contribute to the United Service Organizations and feed the homeless. But something like this is especially important to Marines because we spend so much time away from our families,” said Salinas, who had no trouble handling a wood saw.

“Ten years from now,” she continued, “we can drive past this site and know that we helped people who would not necessarily have been able to own a home. Marines know how important a stable home is.”

Jack Scheid, a building superintendent for Habitat, said the Marines helped get the Sixth Avenue project back on schedule.

“There are a lot of military guys who have expertise in the trades, either in carpentry or electrical or plumbing,” Scheid said. “But one thing is for sure, they can all swing a hammer.”

Robert Haddick of Encinitas, a Habitat volunteer for the past six years, said Marines bring energy and enthusiasm to every project.

“They are outstanding workers and are fun to be around,” said Haddick as he and a Marine nailed a board to roof tresses that rose over the skeletal relief of the townhomes in squat Vs.

“We look forward to the help,” Haddick said.

And for various reasons, the Marines look forward to helping out.

Sgt. Angel Santos, 25, from Philadelphia, sees similarities between the United States' goals in Iraq and what he and fellow Marines aimed to do in Escondido.

“In Iraq, we were tasked with building schools and delivering food,” said Santos, who deployed there in 2003. “To me, we are (in Escondido) building something where people can live and make their lives better. In that regard, it is the same.”

For Cpl. Alfredo Hernandez, 22, it's simply about being a good citizen.

“If I were from someplace else, I'd still want to do this,” Hernandez said. “It's just like helping a neighbor out.”

Lt. Cmdr. Edward Pease, a chaplain for the depot, sounded the themes of gratitude and reciprocity.

“The county has been so supportive of the military that we thought it was important to give back,” he said.

Rick Rogers: (760) 476-8212; rick.rogers@uniontrib.com



Ellie