Bnei Akiva Habitat for Humanity Trip, Sponsored by Legrand, Highlights Need for Industry to Support Community Initiatives

Apr 14, 2019

By Blake Marchand

Lior Levy, along with Josh Kantrowitz, led a team of 21 students earlier this year as they travelled to Hartsville, South Carolina for the annual Bnei Akiva Habit for Humanity trip, in partnership with Legrand. As a frequent supporter of Habitat for Humanity, Legrand donated the funds required to purchase the construction materials for the project.

Ms. Levy, a pre-med student from Toronto who recently received her BA in Biology while attending Yishiva University in New York, helped lead the group of students from across the United States to work on two houses for disenfranchised families without access to affordable housing. Speaking with Canadian Electrical Wholesaler, Lior stressed the importance of companies in the electrical industry standing by their values and supporting causes like Habitat for Humanity.

“Legrand obviously stands for some great values, but I think it’s really important to show how your actions reflect those values. So, for me personally, it was very important to have an active hand in that, which is why it was important for me to volunteer and go on this trip,” she said. “And the fact that Legrand was so supportive of this mission is really a reflection of Legrand’s values.”

As Lior explained, it is important for companies like Legrand to stand behind their values with meaningful action. By using their resources to empower the greater community, Legrand is able to have an impact beyond dollars and cents. In this instance, providing building supplies for Habitat for Humanity, “so that it can go to families that never really had home ownership as an opportunity.”

Due to the nature of the South Carolina area, the reality of hurricane season is that many people are left with unsuitable living conditions, whether being stuck in over-crowding or even living without proper sanitation. With that in mind Lior said, “I think it was really important we were able to accomplish this work — and even meeting some of the people we would be impacting with the houses we were building,” she said, was humbling and inspiring.

Lior said that she initially learned of this particular trip through Yishiva University, adding that it is common for students from her school and the surrounding area to participate in these types of mission trips. The Bnei Akiva Habitat for Humanity annual trip has been running for eight years now, and Levy said many of this year’s students, along with herself, are excited to go back next year.

“Having such a group of like-minded individuals philanthropically oriented, it turned out being really fun and really productive. We accomplished a lot in short amount of time,” she said, “also because of our construction managers that were so willing to be helpful and take care of anything we weren’t sure of throughout the building process.”

“I hope to be back in future years,” she added, “hopefully with the support of Legrand, because I truly believe in the work we did down there.”

On the trip the Bnei Akiva team erected the framework for a new house, and worked on refurbishing an uninhabitable foreclosure, ripping out carpeting and tiling, painting, fixing holes etc. Levy said the group was fairly experienced, as many of the students were participating for their third and fourth years, although they did run over a few bumpy roads when it came to navigating the area and operating some of the tools. Fortunately, they were able to lean on the builders they worked with, and even utilized YouTube tutorial videos from time to time.

“It’s really important to make sure the work is done right,” said Ms. Levy. “Because these families are paying for their brand new permanent home, it has to be good quality.”
Overall the experience was meaningful as well as fun. “Everyone became friends from day one,” she said. Being surrounded by friends and people who were motivated to do this for the right reasons made the trip that much more meaningful for Lior and the students involved, “which is why so many of us want to come back in future years.”

Even though embarking on a trip like this and travelling outside of one’s comfort zone may seem intimidating from the outset, Ms. Levy would encourage others to go for it. “It’s important you do your research,” she said. “Start out small, maybe get some friends to go with you.”

“Overall,” Ms. Levy noted, “the experience was not only fun and very productive, to meet a lot of friends, but also very rewarding to see the impact we were able to leave behind.”