Women get it done on Elgin Habitat program

Wearing safety glasses and gloves, and at times yielding crowbars, nine young women volunteered their Friday to work on the Habitat for Humanity of Northern Fox Valley house at 355 Moseley St. in Elgin.

The women, all summer interns at Zurich in North America’s Schaumburg office, removed old siding, pulled nails from salvageable siding, and also learned how to work a table saw to cut new pieces of siding to size.

What makes this particular project stand out from the other home restorations is that it is being restored mainly by women. Even the tools and supplies are being donated by female-owned companies. It is part of the Women Build volunteer program for women who want to learn construction skills of all kinds and help with the building of homes in communities.

Some of the interns had worked on a similar project but, for many, it was their first experience with the organization.

Sukee Kaur of Carol Stream had never heard of Habitat for Humanity before. She now plans on getting involved with the organization to help out in her community.

Zurich requires all its summer interns to do one day of volunteering in a community, and on Friday the company had 28 interns at various locations helping the Habitat organization.

For more information on this project and the Women Build program with Habitat for Humanity of Northern Fox Valley, contact Marlene Hensrud at (630) 781-9933 or marlene.hensrud@habitatnfv.org.