HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. -- Nine members from the Company Grade Officer Council here volunteered with the Habitat for Humanity organization to build a new duplex home in Boston Jan. 13.
Habitat for Humanity is a non-profit organization that helps people in the community and around the world, “build or improve a place they call home,” according to their organization website.
The CGOs were assigned to perform site clean-up, install flooring and baseboards, build and hang kitchen cabinets, and use power tools to cut building materials for the construction site.
Capt. Adam Johnson, chief of End User Services Intelligence Threat Office, part of the Command, Control, Communications, Intelligence and Networks Directorate here, planned the event as an informal, but impactful way to connect to the local community.
“I had previously been involved in Habitat for Humanity in the past when myself and several cadets from the Air Force Academy decided to spend a spring break helping out another family in need,” he said. “The experience was so positive for me I wanted to re-create the opportunity for my fellow CGOs
here at Hanscom.”
One thing that makes Habitat for Humanity unique is that the family who will be moving into the home work alongside volunteers throughout the entire process. “You really get to know and make a connection with the families,” Johnson said. “The family I had previously worked with is still in touch with me in fact, even after seven years.”
The CGOC works to host volunteer opportunities in the local community every quarter. According to Capt. Daina Pizarro, CGOC president, the CGOC here has recently been re-activated.
The council meets quarterly and recently founded a new executive board. “We have an executive board member who will be planning other volunteer events in the future,” said Pizarro.
The CGOC began planning for this event in early December and is hoping to volunteer with the organization again in the spring.
“Volunteering definitely helped make us feel like a bigger part of the community,” said Johnson. “The Greater Boston area has an acute housing problem and supporting organizations like Habitat for Humanity helps ensure that our neighbors have somewhere safe to live.”
The next CGOC meeting will take place in mid-February, but the date and time have not yet been determined. The meeting will take place at The Commons or virtually. Information will be sent out via email and The Blast.
For more information on getting connected to the Hanscom CGOC contact Pizarro at daina.pizarro.1@us.af.mil.