Trial Run

Chatham County Fairgrounds is home for two weeks. The RV Care-A-Vanners program provides Habitat for Humanity teams an opportunity for a boost from a group of volunteers to supplement the local volunteers. An influx of a team of RV volunteers presents a great

opportunity to make substantial progress on a build, complementing and invigorating the regular efforts.

The local Habitat for Humanity office submits a request to Habitat International for the RV Care-A-Vanners and secures a place for the RV’s to park. Occasionally a nearby campground will donate campsites, or other locations can work just as well. The RV Care-A- Vanners receive a free, or very low cost, place to park in exchange for volunteering six hours a day for two weeks, or about 60 hours of volunteer service.

In our case, there is an area at the Chatham County Fairgrounds that has access to water and electric. We park our RV’s here for free for two weeks, while working the six hours a day. We work Tuesday through Saturday with two days off to explore the local area before repeating the second week. We work on Saturday, so we can join the local volunteers who work regular jobs during the week and are only able to volunteer on the weekend.

There is a diverse cross-section of people who volunteer through the RV Care-A-Vanners program. All that is needed is some type of RV – camper, fifth wheel, travel trailer, or motorhome.  The vast majority are full timers – people who live and travel full time in their RV and periodically work these two-week volunteer programs into their travel schedules.