Habitat to raise the walls Saturday

Volunteers will gather Saturday to Raise the Walls for Habitat for Humanity. Carol Dell, executive director of Seneca Habitat for Humanity, said a group of ten builders will begin work at 7:30 a.m. Saturday to install both the exterior and interior walls of a current Habitat house project. The walls, she said, were constructed off-site by Trinity Evangelical Church in Upper Sandusky as a service project, and transported to the Habitat location in preparation for Raise the Walls. Dell said this is the fifth year the Raise the Walls effort has taken place, and the crew has been fully staffed each year with volunteers. Dell expressed her gratitude for the dedication of those who step up to help. "They are all talented carpenters," she said. The effort to recruit volunteers each year, she said, is largely lead by Dave Daniel of Republic Lumber, who "works with so many builders." Many agree to help out "because it's Dave," she said, including Tom Wise, who has "been there from the beginning." Following Saturday's Raise the Walls event, Dell said, Lenny Clouse will bring a "full crew with big equipment" to put the roof trusses on in September. Clouse has installed the trusses each year, she said. From foundation to finish work, Dell said a Habitat house takes 11 months to complete with a team of six full-time volunteers. Dell said the volunteers "are retired and still giving back," and she hopes Habitat house owners see that dedication and decide to pay it forward in their own lives.