Habitat For Humanity Honored by County Legislature

June 13, 2011
Filed under BHS and Community News

On Tuesday, June 7^th, Brewster’s very own Habitat for Humanity Club was recognized by the Putnam County Legislature and awarded a Proclamation. The group gathered at the County Courthouse, located in Carmel, to receive this prestigious award.

I am a participant in this club and when I heard that we were going to be given a Proclamation, I was unsure of what to expect. The project manager emailed the club advisors, Mr.Gallacher and Ms.Rogener, informing them that the County Legislature wanted to commend the club’s hard work by giving us an official Proclamation certificate. When our advisors shared the news, we didn’t know what was meant by a “Proclamation”. What exactly would they be proclaiming?

Even as I arrived at the courthouse, my confusion still lingered. I never had been in a courthouse, so that was a whole new experience in itself. Our club sat in the back row of an already-filled courthouse. It was a full house, all of the benches were filled and some people even needed to stand.

Mary Conklin, the district legislature, opened the meeting by welcoming everyone and listing the agenda.  There was a multitude of tasks that needed to be addressed during the meeting, so I initially assumed that the Habitat for Humanity Proclamation would be pushed aside; the other proclamations seemed more important.

However, my assumption was wrong. Mary Conklin asked the Habitat Organization to stand in front of the Courthouse as she spoke about our club’s accomplishments.

Habitat for Humanity is a non-profit organization that builds houses all around the world. Brewster High School is working with the specific Putnam County Chapter building a house in Putnam Lake.  This process has been going on for a year now and in that time, so much has been achieved. We’ve knocked down a house that was deemed unsafe to live in and we are almost done building a new house. Brewster High School’s Habitat for Humanity Club is responsible for raising almost 2,000 dollars from different fundraising events, such as an ornament and poinsettia sale and an “Are you Smarter than a High Schooler?” game show.

Mrs.Conklin explained the club’s work at the meeting, elaborating on each accomplishment. Her speech was heart-felt and genuine; it was touching how much she cared about our Club.

It was an amazing experience to have Putnam County recognize the Habitat for Humanity Club’s accomplishments. As the entire audience clapped for us, you could see the pride in their eyes.

Although this started out as a confusing achievement, it ended up being one of my proudest moments. I am honored that Putnam County commended the club’s service work and informed the town of our lasting accomplishments.

-M. Frankenberry