Cadets Give Up Spring Break for Good Cause
Cadet 2nd Class Anthony Mountain and Cadet 4th Class Mikaela Pollock dig at a Habitat for Humanity home site during alt-spring break. Fourteen cadets at the U.S. Air Force Academy traveled to Sacramento to work with Habitat for Humanity during their spring break vacation. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Heather Stanton)
By Tech. Sgt. Heather Stanton, U.S. Air Force Academy, Colo. / Published March 30, 2016
U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. —
Fourteen cadets gave up their spring break to build homes for Habitat for Humanity as part of the Academy’s alternate spring break program March 21-25 in Sacramento.
A total of 75 Air Force Academy cadets volunteered with Habitat for Humanity this year, in six cities: Sacramento, Houston, Corpus Christi, Texas, Des Moines, Iowa, and Tupelo, Mississippi. For the past 14 years, cadets have put their sweat and muscle behind the Air Force core value of service before self, by participating in the program.
“Giving back to the community is really important to me,” said Cadet 2nd Class Anthony Mountain, Sacramento Habitat for Humanity cadet in charge. “Doing Habitat for Humanity is something I’ve never done [before] but always heard positive things about and it’s really lived up to that. I’ve always been told by people that this was the greatest spring break they’ve ever done and they got so close with their teammates. So, I thought I’d give it a try and it’s turned out to be everything and more.”
The cadets were part of the Habitat for Humanity Collegiate Challenge where college students from around the country spend their spring break vacation building homes for those in need.
“Habitat International has really been trying to focus on getting younger generations involved and invested,” said Laine Himmelman, corporate developer and public relations officer for Habitat for Humanity in the Greater Sacramento region. “A lot of times when people think Habitat for Humanity, they think of [former president] Jimmy Carter. We have a huge baby boomer support system, which is fantastic, but we also want to engage younger people on the importance of affordable housing, especially in California with the rising cost of housing in general; not even for low income families to afford housing, but for anyone to afford housing. Collegiate challenge is a great way to get young people involved and to let them see the faces of the families we are helping because for so many of us, we are lucky to be in college and to afford that education. Often, we don’t know what it’s like not to have a home or not to at least not have a stable home.”
Throughout the week, the cadets worked in the Sacramento ReStore, as well as on three different construction sites. The experience taught them more about the mission of Habitat for Humanity: bring people together to build hope, homes and community.
Those receiving homes labor alongside Habitat for Humanity and the volunteers.
“In terms of character, it helps you realize how much we’ve got and how privileged we are,” said cadet 4th Class Mikaela Pollock. “Habitat for Humanity is an awesome program and we’ve learned a lot about it since we’ve been here. The people who receive these homes don’t just get free homes, they work really hard for it. We actually get to work with the people receiving the home and seeing their commitment and dedication.”
The cadets said the experience will help them become better leaders of character in the Air Force.
“Most of us have been privileged growing up and it’s really important to understand where people are coming from and that everyone has not had is as easy as we have,” said Cadet 2nd Class Gabriella Gray. “This helps us as future officers because we are going to be working with people from all walks of life, so it’s important to understand where people are coming from.”