Rocky Nimmons/Courier
Tom Seley of Pickens County Habitat for Humanity, right, works with Greg Lark of the Hotchkiss School during construction last Friday on a house in Pickens.

By Nicole Daughhetee

Courier Staff

PICKENS — Two groups of students from up north decided to forego the traditional spring break shenanigans, instead opting to spend their time in Pickens County working on a Habitat for Humanity house.

The choice of the students, from Whittenburg University in Springfield, Ohio, and Hotchkiss Boarding School in Lakeville, Conn., impressed Milledge Cassell, a well-known Pickens businessman and philanthropist.

“These kids could have gone anywhere and done anything during their spring break, and they decided to come to Pickens, S.C., to work on a Habitat House,” said Cassell, a longtime Habitat for Humanity volunteer who established Pizza Inn in Pickens.

Headed up by Jill Evans, director of Habitat for Humanity in Pickens County, construction on the house, located on Shady Grove Road, began approximately two weeks ago, and Cassell estimates the house will be completed by the end of the summer.

First Baptist Church of Pickens, East Baptist and Secona Baptist Churches are working together to sponsor the Habitat House.

Cassell said he is incredibly supportive of the program.

“This program is a hand up instead of being a hand-out,” said Cassell. “Building a home for someone can change that person’s life. It gives them a change they might not otherwise have.”