A quarter century ago, Bill Droste signed up to volunteer at a church-sponsored Habitat build site. That experience expanded into 25 years of dedicated service as a crew leader with Habitat Orlando & Osceola.
That’s over 1,000 days – 6,000 hours – on the construction site, and he says that’s a conservative estimate.
“Habitat became a habit,” he joked.
Crew leaders consistently give back to Habitat Orlando & Osceola, guide fellow volunteers through construction tasks, meet new people and provide them an alternative to their typical day-to-day by “hitting nails,” Bill said.
“It’s nice to be a comfort to the staff or site supervisors,” he said. “They can rely on us (crew leaders) to get the job done and get it done right.”
Bill watched Habitat Orlando & Osceola grow from a single supervisor getting construction underway with a school bus of outsourced tools to an “army” of construction crew and volunteers stocked with a trailer of tools and equipment.
For Bill, working hard beyond his desk job was a major attraction.
“When you’re in the corporate world, it’s all mental and not physical,” he said. “When you’re on a construction site, it’s both mental and physical.”
Habitat Orlando & Osceola’s mission – for more people to have access to stable and affordable housing – is also “quite honorable,” Droste said.
It can be hard work, but Bill hopes to stick with his volunteering “until he can’t.”
Thank you, Bill, for choosing to make a difference and for donating your time, talent, and treasure!
Sign up to be a volunteer crew leader!
Crew leaders are special volunteers who come out to the build site regularly to guide less-experienced volunteers. You do not have to have professional experience in building or construction to sign up, but familiarity with the industry and process is preferred. Being a crew leader is a modest monthly commitment and training is provided.
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