ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — To mark National Volunteer Week, Spectrum News followed one of Habitat for Humanity of Pinellas and West Pasco’s Weekday Warriors volunteers.

What You Need To Know

  • Habitat for Humanity acquired Hernando County services and needs volunteers 

  • George Meese, who is a retired Eckerd College professor, has volunteered with Habitat since the 1990s

  • Weekday Warriors program, which Meese is a participant, is vital to Habitat's mission

With a hard hat on and safety goggles in place, George Meese is getting work done on a Habitat for Humanity build in South St. Pete.

It is one of the more than 100 projects Meese has participated in as a Habitat volunteer over the years.

He is volunteering in his golden years as a retiree.

“One thing I like about Habitat is you get to learn to use new tools,” he said while holding up a new power saw. “Like this didn’t exist when I was a kid.”

Meese is up for anything, from cutting down old fences outside to stapling insulation on the interior of homes.

“Oh, I’ll do whatever you want,” he said to a Habitat site supervisor.

Meese is part of the nonprofit’s Weekday Warrior program.

“I started in 2016,” he said. “They realized that the retired guys can come out and work during the week.”

It takes 1,000 volunteer hours to build a Habitat home.

The former Eckerd College professor most certainly has dedicated his fair share of hours to the nonprofit.

He started volunteering for Habitat decades ago.

“And so, I did a few of those, we did a couple of homes in Pinellas Park with the Eckerd students in the 90s,” Meese said. “But then I came back to it when I retired because I really missed doing the work.”

Here’s a breakdown of how important Weekday Warriors like Meese is to Habitat for Humanity.

  • The cost to buy the land is up more than 200%
  • The cost of building a Habitat home is up more than $100,000 since the pandemic
  • Weekday Warriors are needed to help remain on schedule and keep costs down
  • The Pinellas Habitat branch just acquired Hernando County services and more volunteers are needed there
  • Habitat hopes to build 18 homes over the next three years in the Nature Coast

Meese has even partnered up with Tampa Bay Buccaneer great Warrick Dunn in his philanthropic ventures.

“I’ve worked on Warrick Dunn homes about three times,” he said. “There’s just a whole bunch of really nice people who are working for their community.”

He told Spectrum News why he likes to volunteer so much with the Weekday Warriors.

“We just all fall together, and we have a common purpose,” he said. “We start to learn about each other and it’s usually a lot of humor.”

He said he believes he gets as much or more out of donating his time and effort than some of the beneficiaries of the Habitat homes.

“I just love to do this. It gets me out of the house. I have a lot of fun with people,” he said. “I’ve been doing this for a long time, 116 different houses, I’ve never had a bad day at a Habitat volunteer site. Never.”

That is 116 families with new homes who are feeling good too.