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One family’s gratitude
Story and photo by Mindi LaRose
KP News
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The Hancock family celebrates after they are
handed
the keys to their new home:
Left to right, Ryan, David, Brandon and mom,
Becki
Photo by Mindi LaRose |
If you’ve ever wondered how Habitat for Humanity affects
children’s lives, wonder no more. In a brilliant move
by an innovative mom, Becki Hancock summoned and
documented the thoughts of her children as they prepared
to move into their new Habitat home in the Palmer Lake
neighborhood. Habitat for Humanity partners with
low-income families to help them build their own homes
and make a better future for themselves.
At the July 9 dedication and
celebration ceremony of the Becki Hancock Family Home
built by Habitat for Humanity, the guests in attendance
became privy to the thoughts of her three young boys. As
the story was told by Bob Delaney of Habitat’s Volunteer
Committee, the Rotary Club was to pay a visit to the
home, and mom Becki wanted to leave a token of her
family’s thanks to the club and to all volunteers who
helped build her beautiful new 1,050-square-foot
home. She asked her three sons, twins Brandon and Ryan
(14) and her youngest, David (12), a series of
questions, and documented their candid answers.
The touching “Thank You” card was
read at the dedication, and is printed here by
permission of its authors. It speaks from the hearts of
children of the deep effects of having a home to call
your own, volunteering, and even offers some comic
relief from 12-year-old David (see David’s last entry
below.)
In Becki Hancock’s closing words of
the “Thank You” card, she says it best when she says, in
essence, that volunteers are “the best humankind can
offer.”
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‘Thank you!’
By the
Hancock Family
Becki: “Thank you for
what?”
Brandon: “For our new
home.”
Becki: “What does a
home mean to you?”
Ryan: “A home is where
you don’t have to move
so you get to play with your friends for a
long time.”
David: “A home is where
you get to stay in the same
school every year. When you don’t always
have to start
over, you can get better grades, go to
college, and
get a ‘really good’ job.”
Brandon: “A home makes
you feel safe and
then you can be happy.”
Becki: “Thank you to
whom?”
Ryan: “You know, the
volunteers.”
Becki: “What do the
volunteers mean to you?”
Brandon: “A volunteer
cares about you even if you’re a stranger.”
David: “They give you
time out of their real lives.”
Ryan: “A volunteer
makes you feel like a friend.”
Brandon: “A volunteer
is funny and makes you laugh a lot.”
David: “A volunteer is
what we want to be when we
are old or have someone else to pay our
bills so we
don’t have to work and have time to be one.”
All: “Thank you for
helping us have our home and a better
life!”
“Thank you for showing
my children the best humankind
can offer, teaching them to dream, and
allowing them to
believe in a future they hadn’t known
existed before.”
–Becki Hancock
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