College students trade spring break for Habitat for Humanity

BRIDGEPORT, Pa. (FOX 29) - Most college kids want to spend their spring break at the beach or maybe on a cruise, but not for a group of students who traveled from the Boston area to Montgomery County. For them, it's all about giving back.

FOX 29 Photojournalist Bill Rohrer has the story.

The cold temperatures weren't enough to keep these students from volunteering with Habitat for Humanity.

Cory Soper and Katharine Brice are just a few of the students from Assumption College in Massachusetts who picked up hammers and nails during their spring break.

"For me--as college students--we have had a really privileged life so far. It is really important to give back to the community because we have been given so much," Brice said.

Instead of bathing suits and flip flops on the beach, these students wore hard hats and tool belts in Montgomery County. Giving two families a home.

"It means everything. First of all, that people would spend their spring break coming to help build houses for Habitat for Humanity is huge. It means a lot to our families that are going to benefit from this," CEO Habitat for Humanity, Montgomery and Delaware County Marianne Lynch said.

They are here all day learning new skills.

"We are all inexperienced, pretty much. We have all these helpers out here giving us tips and what not," Soper explained.

One of the volunteers is Howard Goldblatt.

"This organization has been around since the 1970s and we have built more than one million homes around the world," Goldblatt said.

He has been volunteering since 1993.

Eventually, two families will make this Habitat for Humanity house their home. Bringing comfort and joy for years to come.

"I don't think there is anything greater than to hand over those keys to a family at the end of this process because you have changed their life forever," Lynch said.