Written by Jacob Hill ’23 (Business Administration Major), Melayne Schmidt ’23 (English-Professional Writing Major), and Cindy Moukoro ’26 (Biotechnology Major,  Creative Writing minor)

A group of Elizabethtown College students and employees traveled to Richmond, Va., serving with Habitat for Humanity during the Center for Community and Civic Engagement’s (CCCE) Spring Break Service Trip on March 6 through 11.

The five-day trip involved eight Etown students and several employees participating in homebuilding activities and property restoration such as waterproofing windows, installing siding, repairing roofs, constructing sheds and porches, and much more. The group of Blue Jays also worked with Habitat Humanity ReStore to help clean and prepare retail items for sale.

“I believe that the work we did was incredibly important and meaningful because we helped build not just a house, but the means for a family to thrive,” Hanna Tran ’26, a BS/MS Physician Assistant major, said. “It was fulfilling to know that my work, whether it was just measuring out plywood, nailing siding, or building a shed, could help a family create a happy and successful life. I learned valuable skills that I can hopefully apply in the future, whether that’s in my home or even my career.”

The service trip was the CCCE’s third that occurred over break this academic year. Blue Jays traveled to assist a different local partner on service activities in Lancaster and Harrisburg over fall break, and also made a trip to North Carolina over winter break to remodel homes impacted by past hurricanes.

“Every time we’ve done service trips, students take away more than they anticipated,” Director of the Center for Community and Civic Engagement, Javita Thompson said. “Students learn as much from spending a week in a new location as they do from the actual service.”

The trip showed students that serving others, such as helping with the construction of a home, can impact your life as much as the ones being helped.

“It was a realization that you can have the bare minimum in knowledge and skills and still be able to touch people’s lives and make a difference,” Sheyla Sosa ’24, a Biology/Pre-health major said. “It’s okay to start out not knowing everything as long as we start somewhere and work our way up.”