RAMONA, Calif. -- Marines from Marine Corps Air Station Miramar and members from the Ramona United Methodist Church volunteered to help San Diego's Habitat for Humanity with the construction of a new home in Ramona, Calif., June 25.

The house was selected by the Habitat for Humanity because the original was destroyed during the Cedar Fires October 2003, and the family lacked the funding to replace it.

"Habitat for Humanity is a Christian homebuilder, and we partner with families to help them build homes," said Joe F. Carton, superintendent, Habitat for Humanity. "The settlers here were fire victims, and we are replacing their lost home."

According to Carton, one of the more important things for Habitat for Humanity is volunteer work.

"The United Methodist Church has helped us in the past by sending out volunteers," said Carton. "When they heard about this project, they wanted to get involved. They planned for two weeks to set this up. They also knew a few people in the military and contacted the Marines for more volunteers."

However, under former circumstances, this house would not have qualified for the Habitat for Humanity's help because of its locality.

"This place didn't qualify with us because of (it doesn't have a) low-income status, but it qualifies with us now because we extended our program to meet the needs of fire victims," said Carton.

"Our board of directors wanted to do something more, so we came up with a system that we advertised locally - that Habitat will take applications on homes that were lost," the San Diego native, added. "We were trying to get the people that fell through the cracks - no insurance, under insured, etcetera."

Although this is not something Marines usually face, they were glad to help.

"It's nice to help people out that need more help than they can provide for themselves," said Lance Cpl. Amanda L. Rangel, aviation electrician, Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 466, Marine Aircraft Group 16, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing. "It is a good change of pace, too. It gives the Marines something else to look forward to and be proud of other than working at their normal jobs."

According to Rangel, the renovation also provided a great opportunity for experience in construction.

"I'm the kind of person that likes to learn new things all of the time," said the Lexington, Va., native. "With this, if I ever have to build a house for my family or whoever, at least I'm not completely inexperienced."

However, the ultimate goal of the Habitat for Humanity is to help the people who cannot afford a home or have lost it to a fire.

"The main purpose behind this is to help those people that had serious fire damage or could not afford a home at normal standards," concluded John R. Volper, volunteer, Ramona United Methodist Church. "The Marines are a great help and very dedicated, but we still need all of the help we can get. It is for a great cause."