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Quarterback Joe Cox paints the wall of a Habitat For Humanity home on June 30. The team, accompanied by Coach Mark Richt spent the day at the home.

Football stars lend Athens a helping hand

Players, Richt give back to community in variety of ways

By: JASON BUTT

Posted: 7/5/07

Redshirt sophomore Antavious Coates didn't mind the heat.

Even though it was 95 degrees, the strong safety was doing his part with his Georgia football teammates to help build a house with the Athens branch of Habitat for Humanity last Saturday.

"I figure if we practice in (the heat), we can at least help somebody that needs help in it," Coates said.

During the past four weeks, coach Mark Richt and members of the football team have given their Saturday mornings to volunteer to build a house for soon-to-be homeowner Susie Thomas.

"I've always just wanted a house," Thomas said. "I've lived in apartment complexes for eleven years and I've always wanted a three bedroom house."

The home isn't coming easy for Thomas though. In order to secure the ownership, Thomas had to work 200 hours for Habitat for Humanity before the construction of her house began and then log an additional 300 hours of what is called "sweat equity" while her house was being built.

Once the house is completed, Thomas will be a homeowner for the first time in her life.

"The plan from there, when the house is done, is to just enjoy living the rest of my life as long as I'm living here," Thomas said.

It won't be free either, as she will pay an affordable, monthly mortgage rate once the house is finished - which is part of Habitat for Humanity's ultimate goal. The non-profit group's mission is to "eliminate substandard housing in Clarke, Oconee and Oglethorpe Counties in the state of Georgia."

Richt and the Bulldogs are helping make this dream a reality for Thomas through Habitat for Humanity's Building on the Dream program. The house is on a 16-week build schedule, but could possibly be completed earlier.

Richt and the Bulldogs have paired up with Habitat for Humanity and sponsor HomeBanc Mortgage Corporation since 2001, when Richt arrived in Athens. Richt searched for community service ideas until he teamed up with former Georgia linebacker John Brantley, who works at HomeBanc.

"We were looking for some community service projects to do during the summer and somehow we partnered up to do these Habitat homes," Richt said.

Helping out the less fortunate is something Richt believes all his players should experience. He offers the team different community service projects and lets the players choose two to participate in during the summer.

"I think everybody ought to do (volunteer community service)," Richt said. "It's important as maybe an academic course. I think it's good to learn how to prepare yourself for life and to learn what it's like to help those that need a helping hand."

Backup quarterback Joe Cox, who has participated with Habitat for Humanity since his high school days in Charlotte, N.C., was looking forward to the opportunity of coming out to help build Thomas' house.

"I really wanted to come out to do this because I didn't get a chance to do it last year," Cox said. "So I wanted to come out and try my painting skills out."

Cox and several others, including former Bulldog Russ Tanner - who is now a HomeBanc employee - helped paint the inside of the house while others, like Coates, tended to the work on the exterior.

"Anyone that calls themselves a Christian or lives a good life as blessed as we are has to give back in some way," Tanner said. "I've been blessed in so many areas of my life and have been given so much, so to come back and give back is just an awesome thing."

Coates added that with his teammates helping alongside him, the project becomes more meaningful.

"It feels real good to be out here and to give back to the community," Coates said. "I'm really big on giving back to the community and having my teammates out here really motivates me."

While it was Cox's first time at the Habitat for Humanity site, he had just returned from his first community service project of the summer. Cox helped out with Camp Sunshine in Rutledge, a place where children with cancer can spend time away from home to interact with others and have fun with one another.

"We kept the kids having fun (at Camp Sunshine)," Cox said. "We just went out there and talked to them and hung out with them for the afternoon. We threw the football with them and shot some hoops and all that good stuff. Seeing those kids and how they were upbeat about everything was a great experience."

Richt has been involved with Camp Sunshine for three years now, and has even made the trip to Rutledge to teach the kids some basics of football.

But the philanthropic Richt doesn't stop there.

Richt and his family recently returned from Honduras on a mission trip, where he was housed by the World Baptist Missions, based out of Barnesville, in the town of Guaimaca.

"It was a great trip," Richt said. "It was a super time for our family to grow together but it was also a time to learn how some of the rest of the world lives."

Richt worked as a carpenter with his son Jon in Honduras, while his wife Katharyn helped out in the missionary hospital. His daughter Anya worked in the pharmacy while his two youngest sons, David and Zack, lent their hands in the nursery.

At the end of each day, Richt was given the chance to play some of the other kind of football with the locals. The community divided themselves up into teams and played soccer with each other. The score sheet showed that Richt's soccer skills aren't as good as his coaching skills since his team finished 1-2.