COURTESY PHOTO
From left, Michael Clancy, Harvey Rowe Jr. and Ray Bastarache recently returned from a trip to Kentucky where they volunteered with Habitat for Humanity.
Lynn Rotarian Harvey Rowe Jr. was looking for a way to help the needy.
The longtime chairman of the board at My Brother’s Table, one of the largest soup kitchens on the North Shore, had traveled to places such as Ecuador and Mexico as a volunteer for Habitat for Humanity, the global nonprofit housing organization that helps families build homes.
Rowe’s latest endeavor was a project in Appalachia in the hills of Kentucky that he read about in his church bulletin.
“I wanted to help these people, but I also wanted to understand what happens in the lives of the poor and the impact poverty has on their children,” Rowe said in a statement.
When he returned from his journey to Kentucky, he recruited fellow Rotarians and friends to join with him on the next mission.
Rowe approached his friend, Ray Bastarache, a retired educator and past president of the Lynn Rotary Club, to join the effort four years ago. Since then, Rotary members William Reilly and Michael Clancy, have joined the group. Sally Chapman also made the trip to Appalachia.
“ I saw this as a great opportunity to man-up and try to do some good for humanity,” said Bastarache in a statement. “The work is challenging, no question about it, but the reward is great.”
Reilly, a retired Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. executive, said manufacturing jobs have gone overseas and middle-class jobs are harder to find, especially for young adults with little education.
“I have seen first hand the impact on the lives of people when the industrial economy goes south,” he said in a statement.
The group left from Newton last week and drove for 14 hours to Louisa, Ky. They worked on a home in Blaine that required the demolition of the living room subfloor, patch work in the kitchen and washroom floors, weather stripping, and a window replacement.
Despite humidity and temperatures in the 90s, most of the floor work was completed, the new window was installed, and floors patched by departure time.