Belmont County couple ‘making a difference’

By BRIANNA SADLER, Times Leader Staff Writer
MAKE A Difference Day is the largest national day of volunteer service to meet community needs, and each fourth Saturday in October, different organizations throughout the country work hard to complete a project in honor of that special day.

In 1998, Glenn and Catherine Maxwell began the Belmont County affiliate of Habitat for Humanity and have been doing Make A Difference Day projects long before former First Lady Hope Taft initiated Make A Difference Day Ohio in 2000.

But it was their 2007 MADD project that got their HFH organization recognized as having one of the top 10 projects in Ohio when more than 1,000 projects were reported state wide.

In April, the Maxwells attended a special luncheon in Columbus, hosted by First Lady Frances Strickland and The Ohio State University Head Football Coach Jim Tressel, where they received a special plaque in the shape of Ohio for their outstanding efforts.

“We’re very, very proud,” Catherine said. “And we’re very proud of our volunteers.”

During the Maxwell’s search for a 2007 MADD project, they came across a man in Provident, a small area just north of St. Clairsville, who had just about given up on finding someone to help him put new siding on his house.

Walter Orkis started putting siding on his house in July 20007. Soon after starting the project, Orkis, who had lost his leg at the age of 6 after falling into a barbecue pit, contracted an infection on his hip as a result of a blister developing from the friction created by wearing a prosthetic leg.

Since he was 6, Orkis said that he has had three surgeries, the last of which forcing him to put a halt on the siding project.

After searching the local community in vein for someone to help complete the project, Orkis contacted Glen; Glen and Catherine were happy to oblige.

Glen and Catherine first got involved in Habitat for Humanity International in 1992 soon after Glen took early retirement from a full-time carpenter position.

After traveling all over the country and out of the states completing HFHI projects, Glen and Catherine decided that Belmont County needed a HFH of its own.

In 1998, they received official recognition and have been helping people across the county ever since.

And although the Maxwells are pleased to have this honor, the first received for the county affiliate, Catherine said that the work they do is not to win awards but to help others in local communities.

“We’ll continue to do a project every year regardless of if we get an award or not,” Catherine said. “We just happened to get chosen this time.”

Currently, the Belmont County HFH affiliate is working on their 17th and 18th houses, located on 41st Street in Bellaire.

The four-bedroom homes will go to two families, both with five small children, when they are complete.

For information on how to get involved, call the Maxwells at (740) 676-7834, Kim Taylor at (740) 676-7917 or Lynn Douglass at (740) 633-9085.

Sadler may be reached at bsadler@timesleaderonline.com