Bel Air United Methodist Church (BAUMC) and St. Margaret Parish participated in a day of volunteering for Habitat for Humanity Susquehanna. Here are the details provided by Habitat for Humanity Susquehanna:
TWO LOCAL CHURCHES PARTICIPATE IN HAMMERS UP FOR 10th YEAR IN A ROW
Each church hosted a Hammers Up day for their parishioners at their respective church’s parking lot; the day consisted of a sponsorship and volunteer opportunity with Habitat Susquehanna
BEL AIR, MD (Oct 22, 2025) – This year marks a decade of participation by two local congregations—Bel Air United Methodist Church (BAUMC) and St. Margaret Parish—in Hammers Up, a signature volunteering and sponsorship event with Habitat for Humanity Susquehanna.
“For more than 20 years, BAUMC and St. Margaret’s have maintained a strong faith partnership with our nonprofit, supporting its mission to build homes, communities, and hope throughout the region,” said Yvonne Golczewski, Executive Director of Habitat for Humanity Susquehanna. “The involvement of these churches has taken on many forms, including ten back-to-back years of being part of a Hammers Up day.”
A Hammers Up day offers churches, businesses, schools, and other organizations the opportunity to raise funds and then take part in a hands-on building day. In this unique format, Habitat Susquehanna brings the construction site directly to each church’s parking lot—providing all the building materials, tools, safety gear, and professional supervision—while the churches supply the volunteers and sponsorship support.
In some years, a Hammers Up day involved building interior or exterior walls of a future Habitat home. This year, each of the churches built components for windows, doors and closet walls.
Randy Wentsel coordinated the July Hammers Up day with BAUMC. He said that the church’s involvement in Hammers Up underscores its years of seeking to put God’s love into action through supporting Habitat’s affordable housing initiatives.
“It’s an important organization in the county,” Wentsel said of the nonprofit. “It makes it possible for people to get a home, and our church members are all on board. It’s really nice to see.”
BAUMC members have previously put their faith into action in support of Habitat Susquehanna by holding tool supply drives for the build sites; raising funds through mission dinners; and, volunteering at Habitat build sites and the Aberdeen ReStore, which is owned and operated by the nonprofit.
Steve and Betty Hunter co-organized a Hammers Up day for Bel Air’s St. Margaret Parish in October. In the past, St. Margaret’s has been involved in fundraising for Habitat Susquehanna’s mission in other ways, donating lunches to Habitat volunteers at the build sites, and making blankets for the children of Habitat homeowners which are presented from its Service Club to the homebuyers on their home dedication day ceremony.
“The importance of volunteering is giving back to the people who live around you that need help and aren’t as fortunate as you are,” Steve Hunter said. “Our pastor is committed to it. We know we are helping other families along the way to get out of a struggle they have in their life. This means so much to this parish. Year after year, almost the same people come back to help with these builds with Habitat.”
“We’re so excited that this is our tenth year of supporting Habitat Susquehanna in such a big way,” said Betty Hunter. “I think it’s a strong point that our parish supports our neighbors in need in many temporary ways, but because Habitat changes one family’s life forever, it is very special to us, and thus our pastor is very committed to the builds. We love that we get to meet the homeowners, go to the dedications, and we’ll know for one family, they’ll love their new home, and it’s going to mean so much to them.”
Anyone interested in learning more about how to host a Hammers Up day at their location can contact Director of Development Ola Boswell at oboswell@habitatsusq.org.
