EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the latest in a series of stories about the holiday wish lists of Miss-Lou charitable organizations.

NATCHEZ &045;&045; Andrew Calvit wants to bust one myth about Habitat for Humanity right away &045;&045; the idea that one needs to have some special building skills to become a volunteer.

&uot;When I started (volunteering), I could do painting and some plumbing, but that’s it,&uot; he said.

Calvit is now president of the Natchez-Adams Habitat for Humanity chapter &045;&045; and a fairly handy carpenter, now that he’s worked on several houses.

Although Habitat is always looking for professionals in the building trades to volunteer their services, &uot;you don’t have to have the skills &045;&045; just be willing to work,&uot; Calvit said.

On a usual Wednesday, the chapter can usually muster four volunteers to help on its latest project, its seventh house.

On a weekend, and if a group from a local business, church or organization can lend its help, they might have 15 pairs of helping hands. &uot;It all depends on what phase of the work we’re in,&uot; Calvit said. But the chapter’s biggest need, he said, is even more volunteers.

That is because the chapter, in January or February, is expected to start the next of its houses, since it was able to buy enough land for up to seven houses earlier this year.

In addition to people who are willing to learn building skills, the chapter also needs people who are willing to perform other necessary tasks related to the projects, such as bookkeeping and ordering materials.

But the chapter could also use monetary donations, as board member Helen Rayne pointed out.

&uot;We always seem to be needing things, and when we do, we always need them yesterday,&uot; Rayne said.

Such items include building materials and tools ranging from saws to routers to hammers.

Building a Habitat house isn’t cheap, Calvit said, with the latest house costing around $35,000 to complete.

And, now that it has property on which to build its next houses, Habitat wants as many people as possible to send in applications for those houses as possible, said Ralph Jennings, the chapter’s publicity chairman.

&uot;We’d like more people to get into the screening process,&uot; Jennings said.

A recipient must be willing to put 500 hours of work into the house; must have a need such as substandard living or overcrowding; and must have good credit. The homes have interest-free loans families can pay back over 25 years.

Both applications and donations can be sent to Habitat for Humanity, P.O. Box 100, Natchez, MS 39120.