Valdosta State University students, faculty, and staff spent April — Blazer Build month — volunteering with Valdosta-Lowndes County Habitat for Humanity to help build affordable housing for residents in the community.
 
More than 300 Blazers from various departments, offices, and organizations participated throughout the month.
 
“It’s good for VSU as a whole to give back to the community,” said Paul Leavy, university photographer with Creative Services and Blazer Build coordinator for the Council on Staff Affairs. “That’s one of our core values at VSU, and it doesn’t take much to give a lot back.
 
“This work also enables people to get together outside of the work environment and bond as a team. The more community service you have your students, faculty, and staff doing, the better off your university is. It builds character and togetherness.”
 
The volunteers from VSU helped to renovate two houses in Valdosta and build a third from the ground up.
 
“Life is short, so any great thing you can do for somebody is always good,” said Bryndan McCoy, a wide receiver for the VSU football team who volunteered with his teammates. He is a mass media major from Clermont, Florida, who expects to graduate in Spring 2020. “It’s important to take some time out of our busy schedules because it’s the little things like this that give people hope and make their lives better.”
 
Molly Ferrier, executive director of Valdosta-Lowndes County Habitat for Humanity, said VSU’s service is “so important to our community.”
 
“We love having the students come out to volunteer,” she said. “We are able to build more homes with their help. The two things we need to build a home are volunteers and funding. VSU providing the volunteers has allowed us to build an additional home this year.”
 
Valdosta-Lowndes County Habitat for Humanity is a nonprofit Christian housing ministry dedicated to eliminating substandard housing in the community and replacing it with affordable, decent housing. The organization has built more than 200 homes, sheltering more than 700 people.
 
“We are able to help people get out of poverty and see some generational stability,” Ferrier said. “When a family or child has stable, affordable housing, they are able to focus on other important aspects of life like their career or education. Affordable housing has lasting effects on the family and provides better opportunities for the children.”