By Jeff Whitten,
Special to the Effingham Herald
RINCON -- Some 40 volunteers answered a call by the nonprofit Homes For Our Troops to help on a landscaping project Dec. 14. It was, one of them said, a better alternative to sleeping in.
“I wanted something productive to do with my Saturday morning and I respected the cause,” said Dakota-Reese Brack, a South Effingham High School senior. “I think it’s so
Saturday’s project, under the direction of contractor Wayne Lee, an Army veteran, involved laying sod and planting trees and flowers around a new home about halfway between Rincon and Springfield. When work finishes, the specially adapted home will belong to the family of Matthew Watters, a retired Army ranger who lost his left leg and suffered severe injuries to his right arm and leg after he was hit by a rocket propelled grenade in Iraq in 2003.
After being medically retired from the Army, Watters served 15 years with the Tacoma, Washington, police force as a bomb technician and patrol officer before retiring in 2021 and moving to Georgia. He called the morning turnout amazing and said if it weren’t for his needing time off his prosthetic leg, he would be helping himself.
“It makes me feel good about our country, and the people in the community here,” he said. “I mean, who am I to get all this help?”
Volunteers were shuttled to the yard from Centerpoint Community Church in Rincon. Among those helping was Chloe Adkins, a sophomore at Effingham County High School. She said her parents, both veterans, thought this would be a worthwhile community service project.
“It’s a nice way to let me learn some lessons and really get in touch with the community,” she said, calling Watters’ story inspiring.
Also, on hand helping with some of the heavy lifting were George Jones and Devonta Sampson, both active-duty soldiers and members of Omega Kappa Lambda, a military fraternity.
“Our motto,” Jones said. “Is to give back, not sit back. This is a worthwhile project.”
Watters was chosen for a home in 2019 by HFOT, a Massachusetts-based organization founded in 2004 that so far has teamed with contractors to build more than 370 specially adapted homes for severely wounded, post 9/11 veterans, who in turn receive the homes mortgage free – though they do have to meet stringent requirements.
“When folks who don’t know you come out to volunteer their time, and there’s nothing more precious than a person’s time, for them to come out and give theirs means the world to me,” he said.
For more information about Homes for Our Troops, visit www.hfotusa.org.
