Community service:Cadets spend spring break supporting Iowa community

  • Published
  • By John Van Winkle
  • U.S. Air Force Academy Public Affairs
DES MOINES, Iowa --  Spring break presented the sounds of drills, saws, hammers and even the occasional snowflake for 10 Air Force Academy cadets March 24.

The cadets are among 60 cadets giving up their spring break to volunteer with Habitat for Humanity here and in in Houston, El Paso, Texas, Montrose, Colo., Oklahoma City and Des Moines.

"Habitat for Humanity provides and improves home for low income families," said Cadet 2nd Class Roni Morthorpe, the cadet in charge of the Des Moines group. "The home we're working on today was built in 1950. The old siding was completely molded and had asbestos. Habitat for Humanity removed the asbestos and we're now putting up new siding. We just happened to pick the coldest location possible for Alternative
Spring Break."

Daytime temperatures peaked at just more than 40 degrees with cold wind blowing down the neighborhood streets, reminding the cadets that winter had by no means given way to spring in central Iowa.

The cadets teamed with the Greater Des Moines Habitat for Humanity chapter to assist 160 families in 2015, said Jeff Thompson, the chapter's local volunteer manager. This year, the chapter plans to build 28 homes, and renovate and upgrade 132 other homes.

"This arm of our program is called Rock the Block and the idea is to help existing homeowners safely stay in the homes," Thompson said. "

The Des Moines cadets will alternate between renovating existing homes and constructing new homes this week. The renovation work March 24 included siding, caulking and exterior trimming before rain brought an end to the day's efforts.
"These cadets are involved and focused, and that's very nice to have," said Jake Ross, the construction manager at the Des Moines worksite. "We show them a task once and they are ready to go. One day ago, most of them had never handled drills, power saws or hammers, and today they've just about finished siding this house."

Tasks were divided up once the cadets hit the worksite. For Cadet 4th Class Gabriel Houston, the choice of tasks was easy.

"It was a choice between power tools or a hammer and nails," he said with a grin. "I chose the power tools."

Houston cut siding and boards for the house's exterior with a power saw. The cadet plans to major in civil engineering so he has no regrets about turning away the traditional spring break destinations of beaches and ski resorts for a frigid construction site.

"I figured it would be a good experience, and I'd get to help people and learn a little bit about construction in the process," he said. "I'd always wanted to work with Habitat for Humanity and now through Alternative Spring Break, I am getting that opportunity. So it seems this is a good idea all around."

The Alternative Spring Break program is part of the Cadet Service Leadership Program run by the Air Force Academy's Center for Character and Leadership Development.

Cadets volunteered 38,000 hours of community service work around the nation during the 2013-2014 academic year.