Habitat volunteer dies in plane crash

By August 29, 2006

USA (MNN) — Habitat for Humanity is mourning the loss of an important person with that organization. 57-year-old Patrick Smith of Lexington, Kentucky was on board the Comair flight that crashed Sunday morning in the US state of Kentucky.

Smith, who was Habitat for Humanity’s 2004 volunteer of the year, was going to Gulfport, Mississippi, for the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

According to reports, Smith was on his way to help with the construction of the first 13 houses that the Kentucky Habitat chapter is helping to build in the coastal section of Mississippi hit by Katrina.

Smith was the visionary for the construction of 161 houses in India and Sri Lanka in 2005, after a tsunami struck that region. He was also working on a project to build houses in Ghana.

Federal Aviation officials are still investigating the crash. Many believe the plane crashed because it took off from a runaway that was too short for commercial flights.

Habitat provides homes for poor families in Jesus’ name. Pray for the family and for others to pick up where Smith left off.

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