The Enid News and Eagle, Enid, OK

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March 20, 2008

Collegians spend spring break time constructively

By Violet Spader, Staff Writer

When Beth Wilson and Kate Thometz get asked, “What did you do for spring break?” their answers be a little different than most college students’.

“We made our own wall,” Wilson said, “and it was a pretty colossal wall, too.”

Wilson and Thometz are two of 12 Marquette University students who are spending the week helping to build a home with Enid’s Habitat for Humanity. According to the Rev. Richard Dunn, executive consultant for Enid Habitat for Humanity, they’re helping build a 1,200 square-foot, four-bedroom, two-bathroom home for an Enid family.

Guillermo Contreras, a freshman physical therapy major from Chicago, said there was a foundation on the home when the group be-gan working Monday.

Since then, they’ve built several wall frames, and Contreras said they’re hoping to have the entire frame of the house completed by the time they leave Friday.

The group has been sleeping at St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church and showering at Denny Price Family YMCA. Contreras said he’s enjoyed his stay in Enid.

“It’s Southern comfort exemplified here,” he said. “Everyone’s so welcoming.”

Thometz, a freshman classical studies major from Brookfield, Wis., had participated with Habitat for Humanity before, but she called her spring break in Enid “a learning experience.”

Wilson, a sophomore biology and environmental science major from Crystal Lake, Ill., said she’d heard good things about the trip from other students and decided to participate.

“I’ve made 12 new friends and met some wonderful people,” Wilson said. “I helped build a house for a family, who will make wonderful memories here.”

The project is part of Marquette Action Program (MAP), which offers students the chance to work and interact with people across the United States. Enid is one of eight host locations students can visit by participating in MAP. Other sites include New Orleans, Montgomery, Ala., Baltimore and St. Louis. Projects range from assisting parishes to helping physically disabled individuals. According to Marquette’s Web site, up to 15 students can participate in the Enid trip.

The home, when completed, will go to an Enid family for a no interest 20-year loan to pay for the $55,000 home. The homeowners also must invest 300 hours of sweat equity, or work on the house, before they’re given the home.

Dunn said Enid Habitat for Humanity builds between 1 1/2 and two homes a year but is wanting to build more. Their goal this year, he said, is four homes.

Marquette University is a four-year Jesuit Roman Catholic university in Milwaukee, Wis.

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