Ball players score ‘home’ run for Habitat for Humanity
PENNSBrRY – So what does it take to build a townhouse? How about a baseball team.
Joe Pesci, the head baseball coach at Pennsbury High School, recently took a group of his players to Sellersville to help build a house for Habitat for Humanity. He also plans to schedule more work days in the future.
Participating this time were Brendan Campbell, Jake doldberg, Justin Jacko, Matt Kaiser, Joe Sabatino and Shaughn Wright.
Habitat for Humanity, or simply called Habitat, is an international, non-governPHnWal, nRn-SURfiW RUJanLzaWLRn GHYRWHG to building simple, decent and affordable housing.
solunteering for Habitat meant getting up on a Saturday at 5:45 a.m. The group arrived in Sellersville around 8 a.m. The workday ended at 5 p.m.
Senior Joe Sabatino, 18, said he didn’t think twice about signing up. “I thought it would be real good to help others who are less fortunate,” he said.
Sabatino, a resident of Lower MakefiHlG, VaLG WKaW NnRwLnJ KH KHlSHG VRPHone in need “feels really good. At the end of the day, I was real happy.”
He and his teammates put up sheetrock, completed some interior work and were part of the clean-up crew.
Some of the athletes also helped lay the foundation of the townhouse.
The students learned at the end of the day that the crew members working on the project with them were actually the people who will live in the townhouse.
“I was surprised,” said Sabatino, who is a pitcher for the team. “I didn’t know it was going to be that way. It made me more aware and it made me feel better that they were there and that they were helping themselves.”
He said the experience will help him in the future because the effort involved teamwork. “We all had to work together throughout the day,” he said. “I will be more aware and that there’s more to life than my life.”
Junior Shaughn Wright, 16, said he signed up because “it’s good to help out people.
:ULJKW, an RuWfiHlGHU, lLYHV Ln FaLUlHVV Hills. He has a special reason for participating in the Habitat project.
“My dad’s into building houses,” he said. “He used to volunteer for Habitat IRU HuPanLWy. TKLV LV Py fiUVW WLPH YRlunteering. I never had an opportunity until now.”
Like his dad, Wright has always been interested in building houses.
“The guys running it taught me a lot,” he said. “I was a mason for the day,” he said. “We were taking down some cinderblocks and putting them back up.”
He said just knowing that he helped someone in need made him “feel really good.”
Like Sabatino, Wright was surprised when he heard who the owners are of the townhouse. “I had no idea that they were getting the house,” he said. “They were nice people. They were funny.”
Coach Pesci, 30, said watching his players at work was at times amusing. “I was making fun of Matt,” he said. “He couldn’t swing a hammer. After a little bit, he got it. It was fun watching some of the kids.”
Pesci, who teaches special education and English, is a 2000 graduate of Pennsbury High School.
He explained why he picked Habitat as a service project for his team. “I had looked around for different things to do,” he said. “I thought about a hospital or senior center.”
But, out of all the options, he picked Habitat.
“I thought they would enjoy learning a skill and working together,” Pesci said. “It was two-fold it helped me to get people to work as a team and it helped people in need.” He wanted the kids “to give back.” Pesci said the most important part of this is the willingness of the kids to be part of it. “The fact I had more kids and had to turn kids down shows a lot,” he said.
He stressed that besides taking a lunch break, the kids worked straight through the day.
“They didn’t complain,” Pesci said. “They gave up their Saturday…It was good that they saw the importance of it.”
Pesci and his players will also stage a Home Run 5K to maintain the team’s involvement in volunteering.
”I probably will make all of them run it,” he said of the players.
3URcHHGV wLll EHnHfiW HaELWaW IRU Humanity.
:KHn SlanV aUH VRlLGLfiHG IRU WKH 5., information will be posted on the team’s website: www.pennsburyfalconbaseball. com