Care Force Chronicle: San Francisco

Team Care Force landed in picturesque San Francisco mid-afternoon on Sunday, September 21st. Upon venturing to Enterprise, Wil Holbrook received a virtuous, free SUV upgrade in Cadillac form. Yes, my fellow idealists, this week we did not have a sunroof top, but we did have a diamond in the back of the Escalade. Then the Special Forces cruised over to Howard Johnson -- an Oracle had advised us to stay there.
After settling in, a few brave souls decided to venture in the Bay and check out the service site -- The Mission Neighborhood Center. The site looked legit and was not open so then we cruised over the West Coast fast-food staple In-and-Out Burger, home of the Animal style. After this excursion, the majority of the team returned to the hotel and rested for the duration of the evening, while others explored the virtues of the Haight.

The next morning came and we circled with the whole project squad including Curtis Blyden, Meggan Levene, Wil Holbrook, and Team Care Force minus Mary Parker. After the spirit break we rolled over to the service site where we commenced the prep work -- mostly taping and tarping the hallways as well as the entire theatre. Following a strenuous morning we were greeted with one of three spectacular lunches (legendary Mission Burritos, Veggie Lasagna, and Sapodillas) provided by the service partner. In addition, during the day we had the pleasure of witnessing some of the numerous center services: Head Start, lunch for seniors, bingo for seniors, and exercise classes for seniors.

The next day we decided that we would have to paint the trim in the theatre prior to the arrival of the volunteers. With this decision, we began taping in earnest and then proceeded to create a symphony of painting all under the conductorship of the legendary William Holbrook. All of this took place while Thomas Wingert expertly planned the most intricate, mind-blowing planter box benches Care Force has ever fashioned. Co-currently, David “Old Cedar” Alexander taped the hallways and bathroom with Bob Villa-like precision. Also on this day, Care Force avoided a scaffolding fiasco behind the muscle and guile of Curtis Blyden, who secured a delivery for early the next morning.

On the last day of prep, Care Force ravaged the HoJo’s continental breakfast and proceeded with fervor to the service site. As Joel “Beans” Shuherk finished painting the front of the stage his fellow Team members stealthily re-taped the theatre without his detection. Throughout the morning, the Neighborhood Center distributed hundreds of pounds of vegetables to the local senior population. After this act of charity, Amy “Smuggs” Draybuck and Alice “Grams” Newman employed the old string and chalk trick to create an insanely accurate rendering of the Center’s logo on the courtyard’s pavement. Meanwhile, Hugh Harlow and Allison Goldstein attacked the upper trim of the theater with a vicious scaffold assault. After completing the last day of prep the Special Forces of Idealism were confident their event would be awe-inspiring.Event day came bright and early in the Howard Johnson parking lot at 6:30 am. Upon arrival in the Mission neighborhood, Care Force proceeded to transport all the necessary tools in preparation for the approaching Aramark volunteers. Bus captains were then deployed while the PT crew stayed at the site to prepare for Aramark’s arrival. Upon the arrival of the volunteers, a local politician informed us that the day had been officially declared Aramark day in San Francisco; PT went inspirationally. After the spirit break, volunteers were deployed into projects where they painted murals (designed and sketched by local artists, in addition to some Care Force originals), rooms, and cabinets. Also, volunteers landscaped and painted various areas, sanded all available wood surfaces and constructed shelving as well as planter benches. All in all the day went swimmingly and we thought that after the volunteers had left the day it was over, but Smuggs and Grams had other ideas. We had leftover mulch and dirt and the raging idealists steadfastly advocated that we spread it. So outside we went and in acts of guerilla service we provided many local trees as well as residents with copious amounts of fresh soil and mulch. After this inspirational work was completed we walked through one last time then headed to HoJo’s for victory showers. Thereafter we dined at the legendary Garlic Restaurant, The Stinking Rose, where we celebrated another triumph for the Special Forces of Idealism