Summer help

By Amanda Dyslin
The Free Press

NORTH MANKATO August 15, 2006 12:54 am

— Sure, they’d built a fence for their yard and done the usual household repairs.
But siding? Roofing? Constructing scaffolding? No way.
Monday morning was Day One of Esther and Bob Thaller’s job with Habitat for Humanity and Lesson One in construction. And they came a long way to work on the Habitat home on Fairbanks Drive in North Mankato.
The couple traveled by RV from Los Angeles as part of the RV Care-A-Vanners program set up by Habitat for Humanity International. The program offers anyone who travels in an RV (mostly retired people) the opportunity to sign up and volunteer at a variety of Habitat houses under construction nationwide. About 6,600 Care-A-Vanners are participating this year.
Between eight and 20 Care-A-Vanners report to each house on the list for two weeks. They work about six or seven hours a day, and they camp nearby at night and on the weekend.
The Thallers — who road trip it every year from June to October — chose North Mankato out of 185 sites because they were in the area, having recently attended a national Winnebago rally in Forest City, Iowa. They also had friends to visit in Minneapolis. And, new to the state, they wanted to have a look around.
“We chose Mankato because we thought this would be cooler,” Esther joked. “We’re really impressed with the state of Minnesota. We’re glad to be here.”
George and Muriel Boucher, also newcomers to Habitat for Humanity, in general, chose the North Mankato project for the same reasons. The couple, from Kissimmee, Fla., was visiting their son in White Bear Lake. They decided, despite their limited experience with construction beyond “putt-putting around the house,” now was as good of a time as any to learn for a good cause.
“First time for everything,” George said.
A third Care-A-Vanner couple was at the house Monday — Elliot and Ruth Bolotin of the Chicago area. (And a fourth, whose RV broke down in Indiana, will arrive Wednesday.) By mid-morning on their first day, they were already hard at work preparing to side and shingle the house.
Ben Schmillen, the construction manager, said by the time the couples leave they’ll have sided, roofed and dry-walled, among other things — all of which will require tutelage.
“That’s basically all I do,” Schmillen said.
All of the couples’ hard work is greatly appreciated, said Julie Schmillen, executive director of Habitat for Humanity of South Central Minnesota. The deadline for construction of the house, being funded in part by a $65,000 grant by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, is Nov. 30. The work of the Care-A-Vanners is helping Habitat get there, she said.
A house takes about 5,000 man hours to complete over eight to 12 months and costs about $95,000. Most of the exterior work is completed in the summer, and mostly local volunteers work inside during the winter.
“We don’t get Care-A-Vanners in the dead of winter,” Julie Schmillen said.
While they are here, though, the Thallers plan on enjoying their time in the Mankato area. And if they get tired, they’ll just remember the work they’re doing is for a good cause. That’s what brought them to Habitat for Humanity in the first place.
“We thought it might be a wonderful experience and an opportunity to give back to the whole country,” Esther said.

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