Habitat for Humanity provides students with a great opportunity to fulfill their mandatory service hours while also providing a great service to their community and the communities near them. While Habitat for Humanity is a nationwide organization, the high school also has its own Habitat for Humanity club.

The purpose of Habitat for Humanity is for students and adults alike to build houses for those who are in poverty and would otherwise not be able to afford shelter. Habitat for Humanity is a non-profit, meaning that any money that they make is used to pay employees or expand and support the charity. This means that any money donated is not wasted, unlike many other charities.

Volunteers work together to build houses out of normal construction materials such as wood, plaster and concrete, as opposed to the construction of low quality homes built from cheap materials. The organization was started in 1976, as stated on their website, and have been running strongly ever since, and have been helping the less fortunate ever since

The HPHS Habitat for Humanity club allows students not only to get their service requirements, but to be able to support support the larger foundation through fees. In addition to monetary support of Habitat for Humanity organization, the club allows its members to more easily go to “builds,” as they call it.

Members of the club must pay the 10 dollar fee and come to all meetings, which happen once a month, on a Wednesday at 7 a.m. Members must also attend all “builds,” with the only community service requirement being going to one “build” per semester.

The Habitat for Humanity club, and the semi-worldwide organization of the same name, provide great opportunities for many people to help those in need, or to allow those in need to help themselves. People recieving a home are required to put in, as the Habitat for Humanity puts it, “sweat equity,” which essentially means that those who are receiving the home often put in many hours of labor to the project and work alongside volunteers, in addition to paying an affordable mortgage for their home.

This foundation has done a great deal to help those who need shelter, not only in the United States of America, but in approximately 70 other countries. Opportunities to help the cause are not only limited to assisting builds. Habitat for Humanity owns a chain of stores that are used in to support part of the organization, and by either buying or donating to these stores, you can assist the non-profit.