Community-Engaged Leadership hosted the Day of Service event to help build homes and remove trash from locations across Boone Saturday from 9 a.m to 2 p.m.

Brent James is the assistant director of the Community-Engaged Leadership Division of Student Affairs. James, along with others, set up and organized the CEL volunteer event alongside Habitat for Humanity to help build homes. 

James said the event is held three times a semester or once a month during the full months of the semester. 

Senior psychology major Marina Cywinski was a volunteer stationed at the sign-in table. Cywinski said they started putting on the events 2.5 years ago.

An App State van took the volunteers to the house. There, the volunteers worked with Sarah Grady, the full-time construction manager for the Watauga County branch of Habitat for Humanity. Grady often works with App State volunteers and homeowners who work on their own homes due to sweat equity.

“Sweat equity is basically volunteer hours from the homeowner,” Grady said. “So they’re required to do 250 hours of unpaid work with Habitat for Humanity.”

Homeowner Mervat Rinek is a mother with two children, one of which attends App State. Rinek expressed gratitude for both Habitat for Humanity and App State volunteers. 

“A million thank you for everybody to really get me to this point,” Rinek said. “Where I live now is not really a good housing situation.”

The house is projected to finish construction at the end of December with the finalization happening in the two weeks following the completion of the construction, Rinek said.

“It’s going to be a new year and a new house,” she said.

Students who would also like to help out during one of the volunteering events can find additional information on the Engage website.