Photo By Gunnery Sgt. Cristina Bates | Staff Sgt. Stephen Gentry, Company K, 3rd Recruit Training Battalion senior drill...... read more read more
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OCEANSIDE, Calif. – The smell of sawdust filled the air and the sound of hammers pounding nails echoed all around. New homes came closer to completion as each hour passed.
Before going back to the hectic reality of recruit training, Marines from Company K, 3rd Recruit Training Battalion volunteered to help build homes through San Diego Habitat for Humanity Aug. 30.
“Kilo Company wanted to come out and lend a helping hand,” said Capt. Kalani Creutzburg, commanding officer, Company K, 3rd RTBn. “This is a great opportunity to come together for something good and build camaraderie and unit leadership.”
During roughly seven hours of work, 14 Marines constructed fences, nailed siding, put up home framing and sheathing, along with other tasks that would help get the homes ready for new occupants to move in. They focused on three homes that are part of the SDHFH Libby Lake Village development here.
SDHFH provides affordable housing for low-income families. This is made possible by the generosity of donors and volunteers who help build the homes from the ground up.
“No matter where the volunteers come from, they all have one thing in common – they’re a group of people who want to make a difference,” said Joe Carton, senior superintendent, San Diego Habitat for Humanity. “But Marines are easier to organize. They are used to taking orders and even better, following orders.”
According to Carton, Marines from units across Southern California volunteer for the cause. Because of the different backgrounds Marines come from, they always bring a wide variety of skills. Some Marines have prior construction experience; for others, it’s their first time picking up construction tools.
The experience proved to be a worthwhile event for the Marines in more way than one.
“We gained two important things out here,” said Creutzburg. “For one, the Marines get to experience the feeling of contributing to the community. On the other hand, we’ve got the memories we’ve created out here. We built homes together – some of us got to learn something new. But we all got to see the end result of our labor.”
The group of Marines, comprised mostly of drill instructors from Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, found the volunteer effort to be a change of pace from the high demands of recruit training.
“It’s nice to be in a less stressful environment for a change,” said Sgt. Joe Dodson, Kilo Company drill instructor and Pittsburgh native. “Myself and the other drill instructors were the working party for once. I’ve done a lot of volunteer work in the past and it’s always a good feeling to help out in the community.”
The volunteers took the opportunity to show the community more about what the Marine Corps does.
“Most of the time people think of the Marine Corps, they think of Marines with weapons,” said Creutzburg, a North Hollywood, Calif. native. “We’re here to show the community that we’re more than just that.”
Carton expressed his satisfaction with the work completed; the Marines exceeded his expectations for the work completed throughout the day.
“They were a highly-effective group. You really see the difference when service members are out here helping out,” said Carton, who has worked with SDHFH for over 20 years. “The [commanding officer] made sure this group was extremely organized and on task. He even gave them a pep talk -- I think that really helped keep them motivated and focused on the difference they’re making today.”
Creutzburg said he hopes to make this a frequent event for Co. K when they get breaks from making Marines.
“This is a great cause for our guys to be involved in,” said Creutzburg. “My only regret is that we didn’t do this sooner. It’s so easy to set up and has been incredibly fun.”
| Date Taken: | 08.30.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 09.08.2011 18:21 |
| Story ID: | 76691 |
| Location: | SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Web Views: | 306 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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