Support Day of Caring Recap - Q1

Last Friday, 3/28/14, a group from Blackbaud Support had the great opportunity to venture out of the office and use a Day of Caring to give back to a local non-profit here in Charleston, SC. For Q1, our team worked with East Cooper Habitat for Humanity. Upon arrival Nick Jaksa, the Construction Supervisor, gave the rundown on the house, introduced the regular volunteers who were on site, and explained what we would be doing throughout the day.

The house that we were going to be working on was for a woman named Barbara, and it was nearly finished by the time we got there. Luckily, our group was large enough to break out into smaller groups of 4-5 to tackle different tasks. These included some of the finishing touches on the house such as caulking, painting, and working on the exterior trim. The day was full of sweat, laughter, sunshine, rain, and some muscle aches afterward. Overall, it was a great experience.

For those of us who have not worked directly with Habitat for Humanity previously, the experience really opened our eyes to exactly what they do and how important their work is to our community. Towards the end of the day, Nick explained to us that there is a great need for housing right now and that there are many families who have qualified for a build, but the money just is not there to make it happen. That’s where Blackbaud comes in. It is our job here at Blackbaud to help our customers accomplish their missions. The trip out to the build will resonate and serve as a constant source of inspiration until the next chance we get to help not only Habitat for Humanity, but any non-profit, in or out of the office.

A group picture of our wonderful Support volunteers after a hard day of work.
Photo contributed by Micah Edgar.