Overview | Community News | David Maldoff | Related | Print | Share
On Saturday, November 18th, the sun was just rising over Tampa Bay when the Butler Weihmuller Katz Craig team pulled up to West Warren Street in Tampa. They huddled into the driveway eager to hear the tasks they would complete on their community service day with Habitat for Humanity. Their mission was to help put the finishing touches on a house that would soon belong to a single mother with 5 children. Mike, the leader of Habitat for Humanity, gave the Butler WKC team instructions to paint rooms, install necessary hurricane preparedness bolts for shutters, and organize the tools and previsions that Habitat had scattered throughout the house. In just seven hours, the Tampa construction team put the final touches on the house by installing and painting the baseboards.
Beth Berry, who has been a paralegal at Butler for 27 years, enjoyed spending the day volunteering with her colleagues. “I loved the comraderie between our team and knowing that we were doing something good for the new homeowner and her 5 children.”
A little to the east, another Tampa team assembled in the early morning hours. Their job for the day was clearing space to lay down pallets in order to hold industrial shelving. The Butler crew hauled huge metal pieces onto these pallets that would later be used in the construction of industrial racks. As the Florida sun beamed down on the Butler volunteers, they continued working with a smile on their faces.
Despite the hard work, Attorney Jeffrey Gionet described his experience as, “a pleasure working with my colleagues and Habitat for Humanity in order to improve our communities.”
Approximately 600 miles North in the Carolinas, the Charlotte Butler team was found installing drywall in a house. The team finished two bedrooms, a few closets, as well as the living room. It was Paralegal Jennifer Huber’s first time volunteering with Habitat for Humanity. “It was a really great experience. The project supervisor gave us the background of Habitat for Humanity and the programs that they provide. I’ve never done anything with construction before, so it was neat to get my hands dirty,” said Jennifer.
Meanwhile, in Dallas, Attorney Jessica Skarin walked into the Habitat for Humanity Restore with no idea what to expect. With walls lined with items to be organized, Jessica was ready for the tasks at hand.“I spent the morning assembling chairs and shelves to be sold. Watching the staff make decisions and interact with the volunteers and customers gave me confidence that we are putting our time and efforts into a truly worthy cause.”
When the day finally ended, the Butler volunteers left with full hearts. The Butler family truly cherished their time bonding with coworkers and giving their time to Habitat for Humanity, a cause that has housed over 800,000 people across the nation. Service to the community is a foundation that Butler was built on, and the team was excited to spend their Saturday contributing to an organization that builds up their communities.
Jennifer Huber reflected on her Saturday of volunteering as a satisfying experience. “Being able to know you’ve done something that benefits the community in a powerful way is truly rewarding.”