Key Club helps out with Habitat house

Members of the high school Key Club who helped work on the new Habitat for Humanity house in Sisters. Left to right: Jacquelien Mansker, Andy Neary, Jamie Cundiff, Anna Evered, Tess Durdan-Shaw and Tara Redfield.

File it under the principle of catching people doing things right.

On January 26, several members from the high school Key Club donated their Saturday to lend a hand in the construction of the newest Habitat for Humanity house in Sisters.

The students got up early on a cold, windy morning and gave of their free time and elbow grease.

When asked why they were there, Tara Redfield explained, "We're contributing to the community. It's rewarding to know that you're helping people out."

The house under construction is located at 389 E. St. Helens.

The Kolb's, who are the owners, were on hand as well, contributing their sweat equity.

The project on this day was to clean the concrete forms so they could be used in the construction of the next Habitat house. The forms are made of wood and must have the cement scraped from them. They are treated with diesel fuel to make the job easier and so the forms don't stick together when stacked.

It's not glamorous work, but it means that the wooden forms can be recycled.

Mike Herold, the construction supervisor, noted, "It's great that the kids are here and helping out. They're really working hard and they keep us going. They're a real asset."

Naturally, when a group of high school students gets together, it's not all-work-and-no-play.

"We have a lot of fun doing these community service projects," admitted Jamie Cundiff.

The Key Club is the high school chapter of the Kiwanis.

"We are a community service club," said president Tessa Durdan-Shaw.

"We help out in other ways. We recently put on a play for the elementary school, and we'll be helping with the Special Olympics at Mount Bachelor in March."

Those who volunteered their time on the Habitat house were: Jamie Cundiff, Anna Evered, Jacquelien Mansker, Tara Redfield, Tess Durdan-Shaw, and Andy Neary, all of Sisters High School.