NVIDIA Project Inspire Video

Hear more about Project Inspire from Tonie Hansen, NVIDIA's Director of Global Citizenship, in this video clip!

Care Force Chronicles- San Jose, CA

Partner: NVIDIA

Volunteers: 1,000

Service Partner: History San Jose/ Schmahl Science Workshops

When: December 11, 2010

TCF: Dan Nemiroff, Steadman Graves, Georgia Lawrence, Emily Kean, Dylan Morrill, Phillip St. Clair, Florence Capinding

On December 11, 2010, Care Force partnered with Silicon Valley tech company NVIDIA and City Year San Jose/Silicon Valley to throw a party with a purpose! This year's Project Inspire engaged more than 1,000 volunteers and accomplished great things for History San Jose park and the Schmahl Science Workshops. Some of the projects included: building a greenhouse, creating an urban garden with over thirty planter beds, building one foot square planter boxes for youth science workshops, repainting the Pacific Hotel, Dashaway Stables, Firehouse Multipurpose room, and two historic homes, and building new picnic tables and benches. It was an amazing and powerful day of service for everyone involved! 

Find photos of the event day below and for even more pictures, check out the NVIDIA Flickr photostream and the City Year Flickr photostream.

 

Care Force Chronicle- Miami, FL

T-Mobile Huddle Up Zone

By Dan Nemiroff

Partner: T-Mobile

Volunteers: 150

Service Partner: Opa Locka’s Carrie P. Meek/Westview Elementary School
When: November 15- 18, 2010

TCF: Dan Nemiroff, Steadman Graves; Project Manager Susan Bensen

Reserves: City Year Miami Heroes Team; City Year Miami Senior Corps Member Anthony Teague

On Sunday, November 14th, Steadman and I arrived in Miami ready for another exciting T-Mobile Huddle-Up event week. I was personally really enthused about this event, because it was going to be held at Opa Locka’s Carrie P. Meek/Westview Elementary School. I served with City Year Miami last year, so it was really cool to be back in beautiful Miami to do some work.

  

Our preparation week got off to a great start on Monday morning. We took a tour of the school, sorted through the Home Depot order and got right to work cutting wood and building panel murals. Along with Stead and I, the CY Miami Heroes Team worked with us on the prep work throughout the week. For me, it was great to work with the Heroes team. Having served on the Heroes team last year, it was cool to talk about the program with this year’s team. It’s great to know that there’s such a dedicated team in Miami this year. Shout out to them!



Though long and hot, the remainder of the prep week went pretty smoothly. It was full of Home Depot and Target runs, wood cutting, priming walls, sketching murals, tool sorting, and Physical Training practicing.

We arrived to the school early on Wednesday, feeling juiced for the T-Mobile folks to come out and serve. They arrived around 9 AM, and as always, brought some serious energy and enthusiasm to the service site. After some PT, we split into our teams and started working. The dedicated T-Mobile volunteers accomplished some amazing projects.



By 3 PM, they had completed the following projects:



Butterfly Garden

• An Outdoor Garden with planter beds and mural benches

• 10 colorful murals to go around the garden area

• Landscaping and mulch in the playground area

• A “T-Shaped” butterfly garden

• Painted the lines and keys of the basketball courts

• Painted a mural on the outdoor tool shed

• Painted 4 large outdoor murals

• Painted 10 panel murals to go throughout the school

• Completely transformed one of the school’s classroom into the T-Mobile Huddle-Up Room by painting its walls, hanging panel murals, building cubbies and bookshelves, assembling new furniture, and sorting through new school supplies donated by the T-Mobile employees!

All in all it was one of the more transformative projects that I have been a part of.
 

Dr. Seuss Courtyard Mural

During the closing ceremony, everyone gathered around the school’s courtyard area to reflect on what had we had accomplished in just one busy day. We got the chance to hear from Ms. Crews, the amazing principal at Westview Elementary. She expressed her sincere appreciation for all of the hard work and dedication of the T-Mobile folks. This project was unique because a school-based team of City Year corps members serve at Westview Elementary School every day, tutoring, mentoring, and leading an afterschool program. Being able to contribute to their team’s service and broaden City Year’s impact on that school was an incredibly rewarding experience – one that I’d love to have again at another City Year partner school.

Huge appreciations to the CY Miami Heroes Team, the Carrie P. Meek/Westview Elementary School team, Care Force Project Managers Susan Bensen and Hugh Harlow; City Year Miami Project Managers Giddy Ape, Aaron Gougis and Patty Brewster; and City Year Miami Senior Corps Member Anthony Teague!

Care Force Chronicle- Savannah, GA

By Aundrea Dean

Partner: CSX

Volunteers: 56

Service Partner: Savannah Tree Foundation

When: November 12- 13, 2010
TCF: Aundrea Dean, Emily Kean, Dan Nemiroff; Project Manager Christopher Farr

At 8:30a.m. Dan, Emily and I strolled into City Year headquarters with our overnight bags; besides the three of us and our Program Manager Ken Wakwe, the office was empty. The office was really quiet because the rest of the team was in Charleston, South Carolina. All week we had been working on information sheets for upcoming trips in Miami and San Jose. After finishing up the work that we started earlier in the week, Ken informed us that we would be able to leave at lunch to travel to the airport early for our 2 p.m. flight. As time was growing near for us to leave Emily realized that she left her ID at home, from this we should have known that this trip would be anything but ordinary for us!

Even though she left her ID at home, Emily made it to the airport on time; and Dan, Emily, and I were on our way to Savannah, GA. We arrived in Savannah around 7 p.m. and Chris, the Project Manager for the trip, was patiently awaiting our arrival. Once we all settled into our room we went out for a nice dinner at a local restaurant in Savannah’s Downtown Historic District. Over dinner we discussed everything that needed to be accomplished during Friday’s prep.



CSX volunteers breaking up the
roots before planting the tree.

The next morning, Friday November 12, everyone was up, dressed, had finished eating breakfast and was ready for first circle by 8:30 a.m.. For Emily, Dan, and I this was our first Trees for Tracks event with CSX. I was nervous and did not exactly know what was in store for us and knowing that we only had one day to prepare everything for the service event was a little nerve wracking. However, all my fears and worries went away once we arrived at Bazemore Park and Dee Mckoy-Hunter and her team met us. Her team had already unloaded the trees, pre-dug the holes for the trees, and the soil was on site. The only thing we needed to do, or so we thought was to move the trees to their designated planting areas and go through Chris’ extensive training on Care Force 1, our intermodal container. After moving trees across the park it was brought to our attention that the soil was too far from the tree planting area. Now we had to figure out the most efficient way to move ALL the soil to the trees- it was three huge mountains of soil. So as we were shoveling the soil into the back of a pick up that the park let us use, one of the park workers informed us that they had a Caterpillar Backhoe. The worker used the Caterpillar to start helping us move the soil while we loaded and unloaded 3 truck loads of soil. It took us at least three hours just to load and unload the truck. However, we enjoyed being able to ride back and forth in the back of the truck and hearing Dan speak Spanish with the park worker. Finally, there was a lesson to be learned, never assume anything or that a day will be easy or short on a Care Force trip!
After the crazy adventure with the soil and being saved by the guy with the Caterpillar; we were able to get started on our extensive lesson on Care Force 1. Care Force 1 is what we like to describe as our “home Depot on wheels” which was donated by our team sponsor, CSX. We spent hours going over ratchet straps, safety and other logistical things necessary to successfully and safely load and unload Care Force 1.



CSX Volunteers planting trees.

The following morning Saturday, November 13, the Care Force team and Savannah Tree Foundation volunteers met up at Bazemore Park around 6:20 a.m. in preparation for the CSX volunteers, to arrive around 7:30a.m. We set out the registration materials, welcome signs for CSX and the tools necessary for planting trees. Around 8 a.m. Dan, Emily and I grabbed our team signs and began gathering CSX volunteers to do Physical Training to get our powerful day of service started. After P.T. we heard from the Garden City Mayor, Tennyson Holder, as well as a speaker from CSX and from the Savannah Tree Foundation. Following their brief speeches, Chris did a quick logistical and safety overview and the work began.



Trees planted along pathway.

Each team started with tree planting demonstrations; Emily and Dan ran theirs while Patrick Grant, from the Savannah Tree foundation, led the example for my group since I had the largest team. Within the first forty-five minutes Emily’s team was able to plant all 17 of their trees. Her team began helping my team gather soil, planting, and watering trees. All 80 of the trees were planted, staked, and watered. The volunteers also moved and organized all of the materials to Care Force 1. Chris concluded the morning by allowing everyone that spoke in the morning to thank the volunteers for their participation in the day’s events; and showed them to the lunch area. Our team loaded the tools on to Care Force 1 and cleaned up the registration area. To conclude a perfect service day, as soon as we closed the doors to lock the container the driver pulled up to haul it away to the next service site.

We quickly made our way back to the hotel to get cleaned up and ready to head to the airport. By 5p.m. Chris, Emily and I were arrived in Boston and Dan was making his way to Miami to begin another event.

Care Force In the News

Check out these great photos of our service event in Charleston, SC from the Post and Courier Daily Newspaper.

See pictures of the murals completed at the Salvation Army Community Center, Team Care Force Senior Corps Member Steadman Graves, ARAMARK volunteers, and more!

Care Force Chronicle- Charleston, SC

 By Phillip St. Clair





A new mural bench built for

the playground area.



Partner: ARAMARK

Volunteers: 125 volunteers

Service Partner: The Salvation Army

When: November 7-10, 2010

TCF: Dylan Morrill, Georgia Lawrence, Flo Capinding, Steadman Graves, Phillip St. Clair; Project Manager Huw McDonald

Reserves: City Year Washington, D.C. Senior Corps Member Daniel Lawson

After a plane ride from Boston, MA to Charlotte, NC, and then a quick jump from Charlotte to Charleston, SC, we were in the South and I was glad to be back. Having grown up in North Carolina, it was comforting for me to be in a familiar place. We arrived at our hotel, the cylindrical Holiday Inn, located right in the middle of the Ashley River. We had an amazing view of the water from the rooftop restaurant and spirits were high that evening since we had escaped the rainy weather in Boston.

It was unusually cold when we arrived at the service site the next morning and I thought, “Oh great, I was excited to come South for warm weather.” Soon the Director of the Salvation Army, Emily Sawyer, came out to greet us and show us around. We were then given innumerous cups of coffee and hot chocolate and told that if we need anything to just ask. Our prep was easy enough and we were making good headway. To make things even better, the sun came out and it warmed up a lot. I hadn’t worked with Georgia, Steadman, and Flo in a while, and had just met Daniel, but this week just flowed. We knew what we had to do and never ended up rushing or even feeling rushed to do anything. Steadman and I even caught ourselves taking half court shots every now and then. That was of course only after we had finished the tasks in front of us.



Steadman Graves leads his

volunteers in a spirit break.



Our prep week was slightly altered by a group of ARAMARK employees who could not make the service day but still wanted to come out and help. On Monday, we had the 10 volunteers successfully clean up and rebuild a kickball field that the kids truly wanted. Before the field restoration, the kids had been playing in the parking lot. It was really great to see people giving up their time to come out and help before the actual service day.



ARAMARK volunteers paint a
mural in the gymnasium.



The service day was extremely successful for everyone involved and for me especially. I was able to simply converse with my volunteers throughout the entire day which was new for me. I had been on lots of projects that are very spread out or just labor intensive. This project I was contained in one room with 10 volunteers whose task was to paint. I got to crack jokes and discuss my university with a volunteer who was an alumnus. Without much push my volunteers were able to finish five backs for the mural benches and two large wall murals. This was by far the most laid back service day I have had to date, and overall we got a lot accomplished. The lower half of the entire gymnasium and two wall murals were painted and plywood vent covers were assembled. ARAMARK installed a brand new playground set, and added mulch, five mural benches, and two new picnic tables to the area. There is now also an outdoor classroom and playground murals as well as 5 garden beds for the Rain Garden. At the closing ceremony, all of the volunteers and the staff of the Salvation Army said they were impressed at how well organized and prepared Care Force was and that is always a boost of confidence.



ARAMARK volunteers getting some

more paint for their murals.



An ARAMARK volunteer painting

a new hopscotch on the ground.

  

We were also able to indulge in some great Southern food at Jestine's Kitchen and Hymans Seafood. After hearing about what we do, the staff at Hymans gave us free coupons for fresh ice cream and all the hushpuppies we wanted. After dinner, some of us went and hung out with friends of mine in Charleston and had a great time talking by a fire and playing pool outside. I always forget how good it makes you feel when you can reunite with friends you haven’t seen in a long time. This trip was so laid back and cool that I can’t help but think it was due to Charleston, SC and the people who live there. The aura and their vibes rubbed off on Team Care Force and I would love to go back.



Care Force Chronicle- Albuquerque, NM

by Steadman Graves
 
Partner: T-Mobile

Volunteers: 150 volunteers

Service Partner: Los Duranes Community Center

When: November 1 - 4, 2010

TCF: Dylan Morrill, Georgia Lawrence, Flo Capinding, Steadman Graves, Phillip St. Clair, Emily Kean, Aundrea Dean, Dan Nemiroff; Project Manager, Hugh Harlow

Reserves: City Year Boston Senior Corps Member, Ann Holland, City Year Boston Senior Corps member, Emily Ostroff, and Special Project Manager to the Dean, Damon Cawley



Paint station and murals set up in
the gym and ready for T-Mobile
volunteers to come and paint!



T-Mobile and City Year's Care Force came together and made CHANGE happen in one of Albuquerque's communities called Los Duranes. It was so much fun, but that's not how I always felt, let me tell you all about it.

Coming to Albuquerque I didn't know what to expect, but this is what I did know. I was extremely tired, and I had no idea how I was going to give this project my all, and I was in charge of T-Mobile's signature project. The plane ride wasn't one that you would want to take everyday. It was five hours from Boston to Salt Lake City and one hour to Albuquerque. It wasn't quick, fast and in a hurry… you know the way I like my plane rides.





The T-Mobile Huddle Up Zone.

 Monday morning we arrived at the Los Duranes Community Center, and there weren’t many people, or much movement. We met Ray, the Director of the Center, and what I really appreciated about him was that he wanted the help, so he did what ever he could to be of assistance to us, buffing the floors and moving things around making it easier for us to operate. I started the week off on Monday cutting wood. Tuesday was a different day and a different task; we had cut a majority of the wood on Monday, so for the remainder of the trip we devoted the majority of our time into taping and tarping and what a fun activity that can be when you are doing it with people you can talk to all day. We also had Ann Holland and Emily Ostroff who were the reserves from City Year Boston on this event, which was really cool because they were members of CYB '09 - '10 and for those of you that don’t know, that is where Steadman the Extraordinaire was born. We also had Damon Cawley who is the Special Projects Manager to the Dean, from City Year Headquarters. He is such a great guy to talk to. Every time I talk to him I feel I learn something new. In dealing with reserves I figured out my learning moment early in the week. We as Team Care Force have to make sure we are passing on our knowledge so that our work flow is consistent, and the Reserves are not left out of the loop, and left by themselves to figure out how to do something that we should have taught them. Wednesday was supposed to be an easy day. We were suppose to just lay down the tarp and get our stations ready for the big day but for some odd reason so much more tasks were packed on and we were at the site much longer than we anticipated. All in all we worked together to get through each task and I can say we had fun.

Gymnasium: After

Gymnasium: Before



Thursday was the service day. I can honestly say that since my first event in Illinois, I haven’t been nervous on service days. I just feel that I know what I need to do and I just need to make sure I do it in order to be successful. With doing the T-Mobile Huddle Up Zone there are so many components that make up your project and lets just say that, that morning I wasn’t ready. I totally forgot about certain parts of my project and luckily my Program Manager Hugh Harlow, realized I was spinning around in circles and he helped me get ready. The volunteers that I had that day were great. They came in with the mindset of getting the job done. There were some people there who were not comfortable painting, but they did it anyway. There were some people there who have never been on a ladder but they got up on the ladder and did a wonderful job painting. I was so happy. Amazing volunteers make a great service day. When the day came to an end and the room was full of all the donations it was a complete transformation.

 When you are tired and feel that you don’t have the strength to pull through, dig down into your inner you and there you will find strength, reason and will power to give it your all. As I stated before I was tired going down to Albuquerque but when I got there I saw a community that was in need and I dedicated this year of service to those communities. So I have no reason not to give my all.

 Ray Wright, Los Duranes Community Recreation Center Supervisor, giving thanks. 





Care Force Chronicle- Louisville, KY

New Planter Boxes in the Atrium
built by ARAMARK volunteers.

By Georgia Lawrence



Partner: ARAMARK

Volunteers: 150

Service Partner: Louisville Central Community Center

When: October 23-27, 2010

TCF: Steadman Graves, Dan Nemiroff, Aundrea Dean, Georgia Lawrence, Emily Kean, Florence Capinding; Project Manager Susan Bensen


 Our team traveled straight from Kansas City to Louisville on Saturday, October 23 to prepare for this ARAMARK event. This was my first time in Kentucky and I was very excited to explore a new city. After our short flight, we drove to our service site, the Louisville Central Community Center, and waited for the Home Depot delivery scheduled to arrive that afternoon. While waiting at the Center, we had the chance to meet Sam Watkins, valued community member and Executive Director of the LCCC. Sam was incredibly welcoming and immediately made us feel right at home. He explained the many programs the LCCC offers, including early childhood care, youth education, and job readiness training. One of the most unique aspects of the LCCC is their focus on the arts. Almost all of their youth programs centered on art projects, including theater productions, painting, and quilt making. It was great to see so much of their students' art work was proudly displayed around the building.



Dan Nemiroff leads his group of
ARAMARK Volunteers through 
an explanation of their project.

 We arrived on site bright and early Sunday morning to start our prep work. First, we tackled the large pile of lumber that had been delivered, and measured and cut it for the storage shelves, bookcases, and planter boxes that ARAMARK would be building. We also sketched two large wall murals on the maintenance building and ten smaller panel murals that were being painted for the programming space in the LCCC. In addition, Aundrea and Flo prepared for their landscaping project that involved planting flowers and shrubs around the outside of the buildings to beautify the LCCC. We had a great week of prep but, like every project, we always have to be prepared for any challenge. On Tuesday, there were torrential downpours all day, turning the parking lot construction zone into a total mud pit. We also heard tornado warning sirens throughout the day, a first for me and a few of my teammates. Unfazed by the ominous weather, we continued our work as planned and found extra wood palettes and plywood boards to create walkways in the muddy parking lot. 

New Graduation Mural
on Maintence Building.

 Fortunately on Wednesday, the event day, we were greeted with a beautiful, sunshine-filled day. We welcomed the 120 ARAMARK volunteers to the LCCC and got straight into service! I lead a project painting two large murals on the walls of the LCCC's maintenance building. Bill, the Maintenance Director, had been skeptical of the amount of work we would be able to finish by the end of the week. Towards the end of the event day he looked at the new murals on the walls and admitted he was astonished by how much work had been completed and was so happy that the complex had been transformed. He was optimistic that the new paint, murals, and landscaping around the building would prevent future vandalism and attract more visistors to the Center.

Care Force Chronicle- Kansas City, MO

T-Mobile volunteers moving soil
while building an outdoor classroom.

By Emily Kean

Partner: T-Mobile

Volunteers: 150

Service Partner: John T. Thornberry Boys and Girls Club

When: October 17 – 21, 2010

TCF: Phillip St. Clair, Emily Kean, Dan Nemiroff, Georgia Lawrence, Flo Capinding, Aundrea Dean, Dylan Morrill, Steadman Graves; Project Manager Huw McDonald

Our trip to Kansas City started at 6:30 am, when we boarded the plane from Boston to Missouri on Sunday, October 17. The advantage of arriving in Kansas City so early on Sunday was that we were all able to get ready for a powerful week of prep for this T-Mobile Huddle Up Event. This was the first time since our very first trip to Riverdale, IL in which everyone on Team Care Force was all serving together! 

Gymnasium: Before



We served at John T. Thornberry Boys and Girls Club which serves 400 youth a day on average. They provide a safe place for youth to come before and after school where they can complete homework, participate in recreational activities, and learn new skills. We had an AMAZING time getting to know the staff and youth at this Boys and Girls Club. They were very friendly and accommodating to us. Every day we were welcomed to the club with a smile and constantly had kids asking us what projects we were completing and thanking us for the work we were going to do.



Gymnaisum: After
Also Pictured: Panel murals to be
hung around the Center

 The week leading up to the event was spent sketching murals, priming walls, and cutting wood. Our prep work was on track if not ahead of schedule until we had to prime a 20 foot curvy plastic wall. The texture of the wall created a tricky situation because the primer was not adhering correctly. After a trial and error and many scrapers we finally found the primer that would work! This reminded our team that, when in doubt, always check a small part of the wall before painting the entire thing. Even after this set-back our team was able to pull together and finish the prep work required for the service day. Wil Holbrook, Care Force Deputy Director, joined us on Tuesday and even though we worked late the whole crew was able to enjoy the famous Arthur Bryant’s BBQ!

 

On Thursday, October 21, 150 T-Mobile volunteers came out to the Thornberry Boys and Girls Club to paint murals, build bookcases and cubbies, create a Huddle Up Zone, and construct an outdoor classroom. As always our T-Mobile volunteers arrived with enthusiasm and ready to transform the club! They had collected a ton of donations for their Huddle Up Zone and were excited to serve. Overall, the day was great. Club Director Larry Lewis, the staff, and youth were thrilled by the all the work that had been completed by the T-Mobile volunteers. During closing ceremony, Larry presented a club member card to every T-Mobile volunteer as well as to our entire Care Force team as a token of their appreciation. We are all now club members at the Thornberry Boys and Girls Club for life and every time I see that club card I will be reminded of the community we built there alongside T-Mobile. 

Wavy Wall: After

Wavy wall: Before