Volunteers to help build home for US Marine veteran in New Jersey
MORRISTOWN, New Jersey (WABC) -- Dozens of volunteers are coming together this weekend to build frame walls for the future home of a U.S. Marine Corps veteran in New Jersey.
The leaders of the project are from Morris Habitat for Humanity's Hammer for Heroes -- a global, nonprofit housing organization committed to building homes, communities and hope.
Volunteers from businesses and the community will converge upon Beyer Ford dealership in Morristown, New Jersey, on May 2nd to 3rd to frame walls for the future home of former U.S. Lance Corporal Infantry Marine Daniel Pope.
Pope served his country when he was just 17-years-old in the Iraq War.
"My first day of boot camp was 9/11," Pope said. "We graduated on the anniversary of Pearl Harbor. That was the omen we were going to war."
Pope and his wife, Nicole, will be swinging hammers alongside disc jockeys to help an army of volunteers build their home and provide safe, decent, affordable housing in Morris County.
"This is a huge opportunity," Daniel Pope said. "We have lived (in) six places in two years."
The Popes said they want their three daughters to grow up in one good home.
"It's fabulous to build a house, establish roots," Nicole Pope said. "Girls will start school. Grateful for the opportunity."
By December, they could be in their new three-bedroom home, with new neighbors in the multi-family condominium community that Morris Habitat has committed to build.
"When we're done, we plan to volunteer," Daniel Pope said. "We know the hardships families, especially military families, go through."
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