Deacon Blitz
Day 4 — Saturday, Sept. 5
Members of the baseball team and students and staff from the divinity school pitched in to build a house for Habitat for Humanity on Saturday, the last day of the four-day Deacon Blitz.
The house being built by volunteers from the University and Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center is one of five being built by Habitat for Humanity in the historic Cherry Street neighborhood at 14th and Cherry streets. The house will eventually be owned by an employee of the medical center.
Over four days, several dozen Wake Forest administrators, staff and students, and administrators from the medical center worked on the house. Although the Deacon Blitz ended Sept. 5, volunteers from Wake Forest and the medical center will continue to work on the house until its completion in November.
Day 3 — Friday, Sept. 4
Staff members from the Residence Life and Housing office are used to helping students feel at home in their residence halls. Friday, they helped build a house that will eventually be home to an employee of Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.
The volunteers from Residence Life and Housing are among those from the University and the medical center who are participating in a four-day building blitz with Habitat for Humanity. The Wake Forest baseball team will wrap up the blitz on Saturday, but volunteers from the University and medical center will continue working on the house until its completion, scheduled for November.
Day 2 — Thursday, Sept. 3
Fifteen employees of Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center worked on a Habitat for Humanity house on Thursday, day two of a four-day building blitz involving volunteers from Wake Forest and the Medical Center.
The volunteers included Dr. John McConnell, CEO of the medical center, and Donny Lambeth (MBA ’94), president of North Carolina Baptist Hospital. The house, located at 14th and Cherry streets, between the Reynolda Campus and downtown, will be owned by Edwin and Renee McIntyre and their daughter, DeLijah Thompson; Renee McIntyre is employed at the medical center.
“The opportunity to participate in a Habitat build with teams from across the medical center, as well as the Reynolda Campus, is very rewarding and makes me proud to be a part of a compassionate community,” McConnell said. “One of our missions at Wake Forest Baptist is to provide excellent patient care, and with Habitat, we’ve been given the opportunity to provide excellent people care in the form of four walls and a roof to create a real home for someone. Taking care of people — that’s what it’s all about.”
Staff from the University’s Office of Residence Life and Housing are scheduled to work on the house on Sept. 4, and members of the University’s baseball team are set to pitch in Sept. 5. Volunteers from the University and medical center will work on the house regularly until its completion, scheduled for November.
Day 1 — Wednesday, Sept. 2
President Nathan O. Hatch kicked off on Sept. 2 a building blitz that will involve several dozen students, faculty and staff volunteering over the next four days to build a Habitat for Humanity house.
The effort illustrates the University’s long-standing commitment to community involvement, Hatch said. “Partnering with Habitat for Humanity to co-sponsor and help build a home is just one way that Wake Forest takes seriously its role as a member of the Winston-Salem community,” he said. “Wake Forest has a long history in this community, and we must continue to be deliberate and proactive in cultivating ties to the local and regional organizations with whom we live and work, and in offering students, faculty and staff new and purposeful ways to be of service to others.”
Hatch, Provost Jill Tiefenthaler and several other top administrators worked on the house on Sept. 2. On Sept. 3, a team from Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, led by CEO John McConnell, will volunteer at the site. Staff from the University’s Office of Residence Life and Housing are scheduled to volunteer on Sept. 4, and members of the baseball team are set to pitch in Sept. 5.
Volunteers from the University and medical center will work at the house regularly until its completion, scheduled for November. The University and medical center are sponsors of one of five houses being built by Habitat for Humanity of Forsyth County in the historic Cherry Street neighborhood, located at 14th and Cherry streets, between the Reynolda Campus and downtown. The project kicked off Sept. 2 with an intensive four-day construction effort called the Jimmy Johnson Labor of Love Blitz, staged annually by Habitat.
Volunteers will eventually build a total of 15 homes in the neighborhood by 2010. The home being built by the University and medical center will be owned by Edwin and Renee McIntyre and their daughter, DeLijah Thompson; Renee McIntyre is employed at the medical center.
Other sponsors and volunteers are building four neighboring houses. Other homes to be built include:
- Southern Community Bank/Greek Orthodox Church House
- Young Professionals/Centenary United Methodist Church House
- Forsyth County Bar Association House
- Unity House — is an interracial, interfaith effort by the Presbyterian Inter-racial Dialogue, Mision Hispana el Buen Pastor, Temple Emanuel and the Masjid Al-Muminim mosque.
