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When Sgt. Mario Legnaro learned that one of four families with a new Habitat for Humanity NCR home awaiting them in Orléans had no way of moving themselves he didn’t think twice.

“Our senior leadership always told us to go and get involved in the community,” says the ever-enthusiastic Legnaro, who’s coming up on his 24th year with the Canadian Armed Forces. “I called my guys and said, ‘Look, this family needs help.’ ”

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And with that, five colleagues signed on for the Nov. 29 move of Abdelkrim and Nadia El Bayadi and their sons Hicham and Youssef, even though for some it meant a full day of heavy lifting right after finishing an overnight shift at Canadian Forces Station Leitrim.

Legnaro, 44, had previously assembled Forces crews to work on Habitat’s four-home build on Nantes Street during the summer as well as the charity’s Steel Toes and Stilettos Gala fundraiser in October.

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When he and his team arrived at the El Bayadis’ rental home on moving day, they could see the stress of anticipation and preparation had exhausted the family. Although Habitat doesn’t normally arrange moving services for its families, suddenly here were six eager guys boxing up the last of the El Bayadis’ possessions, lowering a sofa off a balcony with a rope because the stairwell wouldn’t cooperate, and cramming everything into a rented U-Haul and the crew’s own vehicles.