National Make a Difference Day is annually celebrated on the fourth Saturday of October. It’s a day when organizations and their employees rally around the common goal to improve society.

This year, Habitat for Humanity of Chester County welcomed volunteers to its construction site in West Grove, where they donated their time to help build a better community.

Andy Caplan, Tom and Jacob Wells, Patrick Dufour, and Dane Jenkins worked alongside future homeowner Kim Wilhelm, installing plumbing for three Habitat homes. Their combined time at the construction site this year has saved HfHCC almost $2,000.

The nonprofit’s longtime volunteers lend a helping hand, whether it’s a national day of service or just a rainy Wednesday. They are the force that builds strong foundations for families who need quality, affordable housing.

John Ponticello recently hit 5,000 hours of volunteer service at the construction site. He started volunteering with HfHCC when it was building homes in West Chester, more than 10 years ago. A crew of friends and two Habitat homeowners stopped by at the exact hour Ponticello hit his milestone. He says seeing lives change is why he keeps coming back.

At HfHCC’s ReStore, Allyn Holzmer and Earl Springer have been signing up weekly since 2018. The pair have volunteered more than 5,000 hours, saving Habitat more than $70,000. Both Coatesville residents continued coming to the ReStore through the early days of the pandemic. The friends they make amongst volunteers, staff, and shoppers keep them signing up for shifts.

Most HfHCC volunteers are retired from their day jobs. There is also a fair share of weekend warriors and corporations helping to build strong foundations in their communities.

This year alone, HfHCC has raised more than $57,000 just from corporate team builds. Companies looking to get their teams back together in an outdoor and meaningful way have packed the calendar, having decided that Habitat volunteer opportunities ticked all the boxes. Among the businesses were State Farm, IDEMIA, Saint-Gobain, DuPont, Constellation, Exelon, Incyte, CBG Building, Key Financial, Global Atlantic, and Bank of America.

“I love working with this team!” said Elliott Flick, Vice President of Engineering at Exelon and a board member at HfHCC. “They are always up to the challenge of helping build affordable housing for underserved families in Chester County.”

These individuals help make Habitat’s mission possible. Families that aren’t burdened with high rental costs have expendable income to put back in the community or don’t have to work two jobs and are able to help their children study and do well in school. These underlying connections are what make Habitat’s mission so vital for everyone, not just underserved families in Chester County.

There are more ways to help Habitat’s mission than swinging a hammer, and you can help right from your home. By advocating for affordable housing using social media or e-mailing state representatives to vote in favor of it, you are helping to improve the lives of everyone in your community. Learn more.

If you’re interested in volunteering at the construction site as an individual or having your corporate team out for a day, visit www.hfhcc.org/volunteer or contact Community Program Director Brooke Seeger at brooke@hfhcc.org.