‘ELE‘ELE — From one church to another, a Mainland-based group recently wrapped up a trip here to help build affordable homes for Kaua‘i residents. Greg Retzlaff of Appleton, Wis., said at the job site Monday in ‘Ele‘ele that this was
‘ELE‘ELE — From one church to another, a Mainland-based group recently wrapped up a trip here to help build affordable homes for Kaua‘i residents.
Greg Retzlaff of Appleton, Wis., said at the job site Monday in ‘Ele‘ele that this was his first trip to Hawai‘i, ending a life dream to visit all 50 states.
“I started when I was about 12 years old,” said Retzlaff, an information technology engineer with Thrivent Financial. “My dad and I started taking trips to the different states on a motorcycle, camping out and enjoying the trips.”
Since then, Retzlaff said he started a checklist, marking off states whenever he got to visit.
“It got down to just two states — Alaska and Hawai‘i,” said Retzlaff, now married with two children. “I finally made it to Alaska in 2006, and now, in 2010, I’m in Hawai‘i!”
Retzlaff is one of 16 members of the Thrivent Builds team, most of the members coming from the Wisconsin area and employed with Thrivent Financial.
“Of the 50 states, the last six were to help build houses,” Retzlaff said. “We’re here to help the Kaua‘i Habitat for Humanity build a home. This is our group’s first trip to Hawai‘i to help build homes.”
“Thrivent is a Lutheran-based organization and we at the Kaua‘i Habitat for Humanity are very fortunate that the Lihu‘e Lutheran Church will be sharing meals and fellowship with the entire team,” said Janis Benn, volunteer coordinator for the Kaua‘i Habitat for Humanity.
Thrivent teams have helped build more than 2,000 homes around the world, Benn said.
Retzlaff said Thrivent Financial has a partnership with Habitat for Humanity and has contributed about $130 million over the past five years.
The group arrived on Kaua‘i on Oct. 16 and left today. During the group’s stay, the visitors were balancing work at the ‘Ele‘ele home site and exploring the different areas around the island. They closed their trip with an evening with Grammy-award winner Leilani Bond at the Seaview Terrace at the Grand Hyatt Kaua‘i Resort & Spa in Po‘ipu.
Benn said she was excited that joining the Thrivent Builds team are two new additions from AmeriCorps National Direct.
Alex Strack, from Davis, Calif., will be assisting the Kaua‘i Habitat staff with community outreach. Logan Fox, from Santa Cruz, Calif., will be serving as the construction crew lead. Both new faces were adjusting their new hard hats at the site Monday while Bob McNamara, the Habitat construction superintendent, moved a load of trusses in place for raising.
Benn said both Strack and Fox are scheduled to work with Kaua‘i Habitat for Humanity for the next 10 months.
