By Emily Kean and Dan Nemiroff
Partner: ARAMARK
Volunteers: 200
Service Partner: The Lighthouse in Philadelphia, PA and Respond, Inc. in Camden, NJ
When: May 8-11, 2011
TCF: Emily Kean; Project Manager Susan Bensen in Philadephia and Dan Nemiroff; Senior Partners Manager Chris Farr in Camden, NJ
Reserves: Care Force Alumni '09 Tom Wingert; City Year Greater Philadelphia: Rebecca Tyrrell, Michael Athy, Melanie Johnson, Samuel Collitt, Jamie Hamilton, and Linnea McCalla in Philadelphia. Alicia McLamb, Phil LaMotte, and Maya Butovskaya in Camden.
This ARAMARK event marked the first one of 2011 and was one of the largest that ARAMARK will hold this year since their headquarters are located in Philadelphia. Dan and Emily had the opportunity to play a crucial role in the service development of this event and lead our reserves from City Year Greater Philadelphia throughout prep the entire week. On Wednesday, May 11, 200 ARAMARK employees came out to Philadelphia and Camden to help transform two different community centers.
In Philadelphia, ARAMARK partnered with The Lighthouse for a second time to continue to increase their impact and strengthen their relationship. The event took place at the Lighthouse’s field house and baseball field in Kensington. The field house had a leaky roof and they had been unable to use this facility even though they have continued to use the baseball field. Youth who used the field would have to walk to Burger King up the hill a block to use the restroom. ARAMARK has been able to repair the roof and employees painted the interior and exterior of the field house during the service day ensuring that the this building would be accessible in the future. ARAMARK also partnered with Teens 4 Good to create a community garden where youth can learn about how to grow their own food and eat healthy. The produce from the garden will be sold during baseball games and the money raised will go back into programming at The Lighthouse offers to youth and families in the Kensington area.
In Camden, we partnered with an organization called Respond, Inc. and helped revamp one of their childcare facilities. Respond, Inc. is a broad reaching organization that serves the Camden community in a number of different capacities. On Wednesday, the ARAMARK volunteers were able to replace and expand the existing fence that surrounds the playground, add mulch to the playground area, paint a large wall mural, paint five panel murals & five plywood murals, and add a community garden complete with six large garden beds, soil, and seedlings. Respond, Inc. has provided amazing service to the Camden community for many years, and being able to support them and their work was a great feeling!
The corps members from City Year Greater Philadelphia did a great job working to complete all of the prep work for event at both the Philadelphia and Camden sites. We appreciated their flexibility and hard work all week. Their leadership and spirit during the prep week and event day helped to make both service sites a success! Thank you CYGP!
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Reflection- Life Lessons Learned from Care Force
By Emily Kean
“You can’t be that kid standing at the top of the waterslide, overthinking it.”
-Tina Fey, “Lessons from Late Night,” The New Yorker, March 14, 2011
There are many things that I have gained from my experience this year. Care Force has pushed me to be more flexible, more decisive, and has forced me to always anticipate the next step. This has not always been the case. During college, I always gave myself plenty of time to prepare whether it was for an exam or a paper. I liked my to-do lists and post-it notes. I depended on my color coordinated planner to live my day to day life. I was determined to always be prepared for my responsibilities and that made me rather successful in college. This sense of control also made me feel safe is an otherwise hectic, uncontrollable world. In my interview for the Care Force senior corps member position last spring, I was asked how I would perform on Care Force because it was constantly so fluid and ever-changing. I remember searching for a positive response in my mind without admitting, “Well that is just not going to work for me.” I am pretty sure I responded with something about how I am continuing to work on my flexibility and that I would try to build in the structure I thrived on so much. Needless to say, I was honest about my weakness, discussed how I was working on it, and then tried to stress a positive attribute like my approachable personality. I knew deep inside that I needed to challenge myself to roll with the punches and be creative in problem solving under pressure when last minute changes occurred. I knew that in this type of work and in life this was a skill I need to acquire to be a successful and powerful leader but I also knew this would be hard for me.
After joining Care Force, I quickly realized that the realities of our lives did not quite fit into a planner as neatly as a college syllabus. In this job you were expected to be ready for anything at any time. We would be notified of our travel schedule only a month in advance and even then plans could change. Last minute adjustments would always be made at the service site during the preparation week and even during the event day. I am certain the Care Force staff immediately came to the realization that I loved the details, asked a lot of questions and would be that annoying pain in their side.
Despite my efforts to continue to plan every detail of my project ahead of time I encountered an unexpected situation on a trip in St. Louis. On this event, I was leading the mosaic tiling project. The service partner wanted to mosaic tile strip along a 20 foot-long “Giving Table” which could be a place where community members could host events together. During the service event, I instructed a group of volunteers to mix the cement without stating that they should mix a little at a time. The cement started drying up quicker than we were able to work and we quickly ran out. I froze. Inside, I slowly began to lose my bubbly personality. I realized that I either needed to keep a positive attitude and come up with another task or let the project crash and burn. Needless to say, the first option was truly my only option. I had to change the original plan I had for leading my volunteers. My team ended up cleaning our work area and eating lunch earlier so that by the time we got more cement we would still have time to finish the time the project. By the end of the day, we had finished the table and it looked amazing. I was reminded that even though I was prepared and had a plan in place I needed to still be able to calmly handle changes to the project creatively. This experience was the first of many in which I started handling changes with flexibility and confidence.
As the year progressed, I became more aware of how my leadership style and skills were developing during each debrief. Rolling with the punches didn’t seem as stressful as before and I started being able to make my own decisions without seeking approval from others. In March, Wil Holbrook, Deputy Director of Care Force, gave us an article to read entitled, “Lessons from Late Night,” written by Tina Fey. We were told that we would be discussing this article about Saturday Night Live and comparing it to how Care Force operates. In the article, Tina Fey writes about the 9 Things she learned from Lorne Michaels, the producer of Saturday Night Live. As I read her third lesson I felt as if she was speaking directly to me about my experience on Care Force.
“You can’t be that kid standing at the top of the waterslide, overthinking it.”
I think often times I have been too scared to jump down that “waterslide.” Both professionally and personally, I have struggled to make independent decisions and not overthink my choices. Because of my obsessive planning tendencies I have often gotten bogged down in not feeling ready to take on a challenge or be flexible enough when things need to be changed. I have had to remind myself that I have gotten to the top of the waterslide for a reason regardless of the changes or challenges that might arise down the way. This year has demonstrated to me that it is so important to prepare but being able to adapt your plan to changes that occur is just as important in executing anything. Care Force has taught me that sometimes I just have to jump and believe that I have the tools and resources to deal with outcome once I land at the bottom.
Recently, I had the opportunity to run an event with my fellow teammate, Phillip St. Clair. We were expected to organize and develop an alternative spring break for Hillel college students in Los Angeles. The process of going through what a project manager does was stressful. I remember thinking, “Can we really do this by ourselves?” During the event week, we had to manage the relationships between all of our partners and put on a successful event. I felt the pressure to make sure we met everyone’s expectations and produce powerful service. Phill and I were also the people who had to think creatively about solutions to problems that arose during the week and make changes last minute. I remember on the last day we checked in with the CYLA Program manager who complimented us on our strong leadership skills and said that our event demonstrated all of the hard work we did preparing in the weeks prior. It was at this moment I realized that regardless of how scared I might have felt at the top of the “waterslide” that I had become a stronger leader by being able to be flexible and was able to land on my own two feet.
“You can’t be that kid standing at the top of the waterslide, overthinking it.”
-Tina Fey, “Lessons from Late Night,” The New Yorker, March 14, 2011
There are many things that I have gained from my experience this year. Care Force has pushed me to be more flexible, more decisive, and has forced me to always anticipate the next step. This has not always been the case. During college, I always gave myself plenty of time to prepare whether it was for an exam or a paper. I liked my to-do lists and post-it notes. I depended on my color coordinated planner to live my day to day life. I was determined to always be prepared for my responsibilities and that made me rather successful in college. This sense of control also made me feel safe is an otherwise hectic, uncontrollable world. In my interview for the Care Force senior corps member position last spring, I was asked how I would perform on Care Force because it was constantly so fluid and ever-changing. I remember searching for a positive response in my mind without admitting, “Well that is just not going to work for me.” I am pretty sure I responded with something about how I am continuing to work on my flexibility and that I would try to build in the structure I thrived on so much. Needless to say, I was honest about my weakness, discussed how I was working on it, and then tried to stress a positive attribute like my approachable personality. I knew deep inside that I needed to challenge myself to roll with the punches and be creative in problem solving under pressure when last minute changes occurred. I knew that in this type of work and in life this was a skill I need to acquire to be a successful and powerful leader but I also knew this would be hard for me.
After joining Care Force, I quickly realized that the realities of our lives did not quite fit into a planner as neatly as a college syllabus. In this job you were expected to be ready for anything at any time. We would be notified of our travel schedule only a month in advance and even then plans could change. Last minute adjustments would always be made at the service site during the preparation week and even during the event day. I am certain the Care Force staff immediately came to the realization that I loved the details, asked a lot of questions and would be that annoying pain in their side.
Despite my efforts to continue to plan every detail of my project ahead of time I encountered an unexpected situation on a trip in St. Louis. On this event, I was leading the mosaic tiling project. The service partner wanted to mosaic tile strip along a 20 foot-long “Giving Table” which could be a place where community members could host events together. During the service event, I instructed a group of volunteers to mix the cement without stating that they should mix a little at a time. The cement started drying up quicker than we were able to work and we quickly ran out. I froze. Inside, I slowly began to lose my bubbly personality. I realized that I either needed to keep a positive attitude and come up with another task or let the project crash and burn. Needless to say, the first option was truly my only option. I had to change the original plan I had for leading my volunteers. My team ended up cleaning our work area and eating lunch earlier so that by the time we got more cement we would still have time to finish the time the project. By the end of the day, we had finished the table and it looked amazing. I was reminded that even though I was prepared and had a plan in place I needed to still be able to calmly handle changes to the project creatively. This experience was the first of many in which I started handling changes with flexibility and confidence.
As the year progressed, I became more aware of how my leadership style and skills were developing during each debrief. Rolling with the punches didn’t seem as stressful as before and I started being able to make my own decisions without seeking approval from others. In March, Wil Holbrook, Deputy Director of Care Force, gave us an article to read entitled, “Lessons from Late Night,” written by Tina Fey. We were told that we would be discussing this article about Saturday Night Live and comparing it to how Care Force operates. In the article, Tina Fey writes about the 9 Things she learned from Lorne Michaels, the producer of Saturday Night Live. As I read her third lesson I felt as if she was speaking directly to me about my experience on Care Force.
“You can’t be that kid standing at the top of the waterslide, overthinking it.”
I think often times I have been too scared to jump down that “waterslide.” Both professionally and personally, I have struggled to make independent decisions and not overthink my choices. Because of my obsessive planning tendencies I have often gotten bogged down in not feeling ready to take on a challenge or be flexible enough when things need to be changed. I have had to remind myself that I have gotten to the top of the waterslide for a reason regardless of the changes or challenges that might arise down the way. This year has demonstrated to me that it is so important to prepare but being able to adapt your plan to changes that occur is just as important in executing anything. Care Force has taught me that sometimes I just have to jump and believe that I have the tools and resources to deal with outcome once I land at the bottom.
Recently, I had the opportunity to run an event with my fellow teammate, Phillip St. Clair. We were expected to organize and develop an alternative spring break for Hillel college students in Los Angeles. The process of going through what a project manager does was stressful. I remember thinking, “Can we really do this by ourselves?” During the event week, we had to manage the relationships between all of our partners and put on a successful event. I felt the pressure to make sure we met everyone’s expectations and produce powerful service. Phill and I were also the people who had to think creatively about solutions to problems that arose during the week and make changes last minute. I remember on the last day we checked in with the CYLA Program manager who complimented us on our strong leadership skills and said that our event demonstrated all of the hard work we did preparing in the weeks prior. It was at this moment I realized that regardless of how scared I might have felt at the top of the “waterslide” that I had become a stronger leader by being able to be flexible and was able to land on my own two feet.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Reflection - 5 Favorite Trips of the Year
By Steadman Graves
Chicago - July 2010
This was my first Care Force event away from home. I think I had butterflies in my stomach the whole time because I didn’t want to mess up. I was a novice to the whole civic engagement thing, but you catch on easily when you have 22 volunteers that are depending on you to lead them throughout the day. I had my first slice of deep dish pizza on this trip, tasty, amazing.
Denver/Chicago - August 2010
Denver was a trying time for me, and at first I hated the team chemistry, this was my second event and I was still in the basic learning process, while everyone else had been on 3 or 4 trips at this point. Let’s just say I wasn’t meeting my team’s expectations, and I felt disconnected for everyone. However, right after Denver we flew to Chicago for two days to finish a ball field that we had not completed the first time around. Even though the week before had been a challenge for me, this was the first time I saw my team truly work together and struggle through complicated conditions to get a difficult task completed. Since this event I have learned that team chemistry is always important, but we must not let that affect the work that we do – because serving the community is what is most important.
Memphis - October 2010
This event was great all over. The project, the city and the people; it was all amazing. This event made my list more for what the city had to offer at night time. I want to say kudos to Project Manager Susan Bensen because this was her first event and she did exceptionally well. She allowed us to really experience the Memphis culture. If you are in Memphis looking for night life, great food, great music and more people than you can count, Beale St. is where you need to be. I was a kid in a candy store when it came to the all the restaurants, bars and bands. It was the closest I got to that Nashville feel, which I am still hoping to experience in the future.
Albuquerque - November 2010
When I landed in Albuquerque, I was amazed at how genuinely different it looked compared to the other cities we had visited. The most beautiful sight that I have ever seen was when the sun set and the sunlight glazed the mountains. I found that so mesmerizing. This was the one event that I stayed an extra day with some of my teammates and we had a blast. We drove through the mountains to get to Santa Fe and we stopped at several shops along the way; these shops really showcased the culture of New Mexico. I had a great time.
Miami - March 2011
This event was very special for me; it was very different from all of our other events. I had the opportunity to lead college students through a week of self-transforming service. Unlike our other events where we work with the volunteers for one day, we worked with the Hillel volunteers for a week. They got to serve in a low income – poverty stricken community which is very different from the neighborhoods they live in. The Hillel volunteers served as team leaders to children who had odds stacked against them. It was wonderful to see the volunteers embrace the children and the experience as a whole. I was satisfied with the growth that I saw in the Hillel volunteers, I am glad that I had the opportunity to witness that.
Chicago - July 2010
This was my first Care Force event away from home. I think I had butterflies in my stomach the whole time because I didn’t want to mess up. I was a novice to the whole civic engagement thing, but you catch on easily when you have 22 volunteers that are depending on you to lead them throughout the day. I had my first slice of deep dish pizza on this trip, tasty, amazing.
Denver/Chicago - August 2010
Denver was a trying time for me, and at first I hated the team chemistry, this was my second event and I was still in the basic learning process, while everyone else had been on 3 or 4 trips at this point. Let’s just say I wasn’t meeting my team’s expectations, and I felt disconnected for everyone. However, right after Denver we flew to Chicago for two days to finish a ball field that we had not completed the first time around. Even though the week before had been a challenge for me, this was the first time I saw my team truly work together and struggle through complicated conditions to get a difficult task completed. Since this event I have learned that team chemistry is always important, but we must not let that affect the work that we do – because serving the community is what is most important.
Memphis - October 2010
This event was great all over. The project, the city and the people; it was all amazing. This event made my list more for what the city had to offer at night time. I want to say kudos to Project Manager Susan Bensen because this was her first event and she did exceptionally well. She allowed us to really experience the Memphis culture. If you are in Memphis looking for night life, great food, great music and more people than you can count, Beale St. is where you need to be. I was a kid in a candy store when it came to the all the restaurants, bars and bands. It was the closest I got to that Nashville feel, which I am still hoping to experience in the future.
Albuquerque - November 2010
When I landed in Albuquerque, I was amazed at how genuinely different it looked compared to the other cities we had visited. The most beautiful sight that I have ever seen was when the sun set and the sunlight glazed the mountains. I found that so mesmerizing. This was the one event that I stayed an extra day with some of my teammates and we had a blast. We drove through the mountains to get to Santa Fe and we stopped at several shops along the way; these shops really showcased the culture of New Mexico. I had a great time.
Miami - March 2011
This event was very special for me; it was very different from all of our other events. I had the opportunity to lead college students through a week of self-transforming service. Unlike our other events where we work with the volunteers for one day, we worked with the Hillel volunteers for a week. They got to serve in a low income – poverty stricken community which is very different from the neighborhoods they live in. The Hillel volunteers served as team leaders to children who had odds stacked against them. It was wonderful to see the volunteers embrace the children and the experience as a whole. I was satisfied with the growth that I saw in the Hillel volunteers, I am glad that I had the opportunity to witness that.
Friday, May 13, 2011
Reflection - Life in the Office
By Dylan Morrill
To me, being a member of Team Care Force is almost too good to be true. Our job seems semi-manufactured, close to imaginary; as if it is the product of a long brainstorming session designed to find the perfect job for an adventurous, altruistic young adult. Each member of Team Care Force has the unique ability to experience the euphoria that comes with the balance of altruism and excitement. As members of Team Care Force, we travel around the country to different cities to lead volunteers in inspiring and transformative community service projects; all while exploring the cities that we are privileged to work in. Too good to be true.
When Team Care Force 2011 started its year in mid-July things started moving. Fast. For the rest of summer and the whole fall, Team Care Force traveled constantly; we flew from city to city leading service projects. We got used to being on the road; it became our home. Hotels replaced our apartments, planes replaced our subways, and interesting restaurants replaced our ramen noodles. The semi-generic comfort of a Holiday Inn bed seemed more home-like to me than the comfort of my “Bob-O-Pedic” bed in my apartment in Boston. Life on the road became very natural for all of Team Care Force, borderline innate. We all got very used to the traveling lifestyle quickly. It only took Team Care Force about four months to hone the unique and elusive ability to channel our inner George Clooney from the movie “Up in the Air.”
We quickly became traveling service warriors.Then the fall ended. Winter enveloped Boston slowly and mercilessly. For Care Force, the cold weather of winter also ushered in a “slow season” of projects. The frenetic lifestyle of TCF was replaced with a slower, colder lifestyle. The “Bob-O-Pedic” bed slowly became my own again. Our bathroom products were no longer travel-sized. Most importantly, our hours became constant; 8:30-5:00 every day at City Year Headquarters. The lifestyle of the traveling service warrior had come to a halt.
We were now stationary service warriors.
After five months of exploring the country and feeling like a service rock star, working daily in an office building for a few months was the last thing that any member of Team Care Force wanted to do. The idea of office work immediately conjured up gray, boring images that carry an undeniable similarity to scenes from the movie Office Space.
Our days would consist of sitting in front of a computer screens in our own personal cubicle and working on various tasks that Care Force staff members supplied us with. Personally, I was frustrated with the fact that I would have to be doing this for a few months.
However, my frustration was sophomoric; unrealistic. I was frustrated because I saw the blunt difference between our life on the road and our life in the office. However, I did not evaluate the difference; I simply didn’t like it. No matter what our winter lifestyle would consist of, I didn’t want it. In short, I wanted it to be fall again. I wanted to be on the road.
So, for the first few weeks an underlying animosity permeated my feelings around being a member of Team Care Force. I thought, “I’ll trudge through the work in the office and just hold out until we can get on the road again.”
However, as the days became weeks, I became more and more accustomed to the office. The dust had settled and my initial animosity toward my abrupt change in lifestyle faded. I began to look around. I began to explore what was going on in the office. I stopped trudging and started jaunting.
I started looking at the work I was doing for what it was. I was doing interesting, creative things and learning a lot while doing it. I helped make a training video and create five new designs for different landscaping projects. I worked with Care Force staff members closely, and my desk was just feet from the office of Charlie Rose, the Dean of City Year. I even lead a team building activity for a City Year Headquarters staff meeting. My new roles and responsibilities slowly became less of a roadblock between me and the spring and more of an adventure and a great learning opportunity. I realized I was doing pretty awesome things.
I also discovered that City Year Headquarters (HQ) is a fun place. Every Wednesday morning a different department at HQ hosted a themed breakfast for all to attend called Stone Soup. The different departments go all out with decorations. Some of my favorite themes this year were “The Super Bowl”, “Spring Break”, and “City Year High School”. We have even had a few local celebrities show up. One of the highlights of my year was the Stone Soup breakfast that Team Care Force had the privilege to create. We were able to turn the entire third floor into Care Force Studios and run a “Minute to Win It” style game show.
Some Wednesdays when there was no Stone Soup, there was a “Muffin-Off” baking competition one for anyone at HQ where the winners get things like the “wooden spoon of idealism.” There were also screenings of movies about community problems and civic leadership every week in the Lavine Civic Forum on the first floor. All in all, I found City Year HQ was full of people who work for City Year full-time; and people who work for City Year are fun. Naturally, these fun people are going to make sure that they work in an environment that is enjoyable. Therefore, despite being an office building, City Year Headquarters is a real melting pot of idealism.
It is currently early May; the unofficial end of Care Force’s off season. Two members of Team Care Force are in Philadelphia for a service event and I leave for Tampa in a week. Even though my “Bob-O-Pedic” feels as comfortable as ever, I am happily wiping of the dust on my suitcase to once again become a traveling service warrior.
To me, being a member of Team Care Force is almost too good to be true. Our job seems semi-manufactured, close to imaginary; as if it is the product of a long brainstorming session designed to find the perfect job for an adventurous, altruistic young adult. Each member of Team Care Force has the unique ability to experience the euphoria that comes with the balance of altruism and excitement. As members of Team Care Force, we travel around the country to different cities to lead volunteers in inspiring and transformative community service projects; all while exploring the cities that we are privileged to work in. Too good to be true.
When Team Care Force 2011 started its year in mid-July things started moving. Fast. For the rest of summer and the whole fall, Team Care Force traveled constantly; we flew from city to city leading service projects. We got used to being on the road; it became our home. Hotels replaced our apartments, planes replaced our subways, and interesting restaurants replaced our ramen noodles. The semi-generic comfort of a Holiday Inn bed seemed more home-like to me than the comfort of my “Bob-O-Pedic” bed in my apartment in Boston. Life on the road became very natural for all of Team Care Force, borderline innate. We all got very used to the traveling lifestyle quickly. It only took Team Care Force about four months to hone the unique and elusive ability to channel our inner George Clooney from the movie “Up in the Air.”
We quickly became traveling service warriors.Then the fall ended. Winter enveloped Boston slowly and mercilessly. For Care Force, the cold weather of winter also ushered in a “slow season” of projects. The frenetic lifestyle of TCF was replaced with a slower, colder lifestyle. The “Bob-O-Pedic” bed slowly became my own again. Our bathroom products were no longer travel-sized. Most importantly, our hours became constant; 8:30-5:00 every day at City Year Headquarters. The lifestyle of the traveling service warrior had come to a halt.
We were now stationary service warriors.
After five months of exploring the country and feeling like a service rock star, working daily in an office building for a few months was the last thing that any member of Team Care Force wanted to do. The idea of office work immediately conjured up gray, boring images that carry an undeniable similarity to scenes from the movie Office Space.
Our days would consist of sitting in front of a computer screens in our own personal cubicle and working on various tasks that Care Force staff members supplied us with. Personally, I was frustrated with the fact that I would have to be doing this for a few months.
However, my frustration was sophomoric; unrealistic. I was frustrated because I saw the blunt difference between our life on the road and our life in the office. However, I did not evaluate the difference; I simply didn’t like it. No matter what our winter lifestyle would consist of, I didn’t want it. In short, I wanted it to be fall again. I wanted to be on the road.
So, for the first few weeks an underlying animosity permeated my feelings around being a member of Team Care Force. I thought, “I’ll trudge through the work in the office and just hold out until we can get on the road again.”
However, as the days became weeks, I became more and more accustomed to the office. The dust had settled and my initial animosity toward my abrupt change in lifestyle faded. I began to look around. I began to explore what was going on in the office. I stopped trudging and started jaunting.
I started looking at the work I was doing for what it was. I was doing interesting, creative things and learning a lot while doing it. I helped make a training video and create five new designs for different landscaping projects. I worked with Care Force staff members closely, and my desk was just feet from the office of Charlie Rose, the Dean of City Year. I even lead a team building activity for a City Year Headquarters staff meeting. My new roles and responsibilities slowly became less of a roadblock between me and the spring and more of an adventure and a great learning opportunity. I realized I was doing pretty awesome things.
I also discovered that City Year Headquarters (HQ) is a fun place. Every Wednesday morning a different department at HQ hosted a themed breakfast for all to attend called Stone Soup. The different departments go all out with decorations. Some of my favorite themes this year were “The Super Bowl”, “Spring Break”, and “City Year High School”. We have even had a few local celebrities show up. One of the highlights of my year was the Stone Soup breakfast that Team Care Force had the privilege to create. We were able to turn the entire third floor into Care Force Studios and run a “Minute to Win It” style game show.
Some Wednesdays when there was no Stone Soup, there was a “Muffin-Off” baking competition one for anyone at HQ where the winners get things like the “wooden spoon of idealism.” There were also screenings of movies about community problems and civic leadership every week in the Lavine Civic Forum on the first floor. All in all, I found City Year HQ was full of people who work for City Year full-time; and people who work for City Year are fun. Naturally, these fun people are going to make sure that they work in an environment that is enjoyable. Therefore, despite being an office building, City Year Headquarters is a real melting pot of idealism.
It is currently early May; the unofficial end of Care Force’s off season. Two members of Team Care Force are in Philadelphia for a service event and I leave for Tampa in a week. Even though my “Bob-O-Pedic” feels as comfortable as ever, I am happily wiping of the dust on my suitcase to once again become a traveling service warrior.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Reflection- 5 Favorite Photos of the Year
By Dan Nemiroff
A collection of my favorite photos from my year of service with Team Care Force:
Here is a great shot of the dirty, sweaty team after our first Care Force event in Riverdale, Illinois. We have come a long way since then, and it has been a pleasure getting to work alongside all of my teammates.
Here is a photo of the T-Mobile Huddle-Up Zone at Westview Elementary School in Miami. This was definitely one of the most challenging projects of the year, but also the most rewarding. I loved being able to help design the room, and take bring some of the students’ own ideas to life.
The December NVIDIA event in San Jose was one of my favorites. Uniting almost 1000 people (including my parents) for a day of service was an amazing accomplishment. I had a great time working with the NVIDIA folks. The picture on the left shows my team and I after finally finishing building a greenhouse at History San Jose, well after the sun went down.
One of the best things about this year has been being able to meet so many great people in different cities across the country. Here’s a picture of a Washington D.C. police officer speaking to some INC. Magazine volunteers before the event at the Boys and Girls Club in Washington D.C.
CSX Leadership Project
Team Care Force is proud of our partnership with CSX and always enjoys the physical service and tree planting projects we perform with their employees. However, these service events are only one part of CSX’s commitment to City Year. As a National Leadership Sponsor, CSX funds 13 teams of City Year corps members working at sites across the country (Including TCF!). Additionally, CSX supports City Year winter and spring school vacation camps and acts as City Year’s Lead Safety Partner promoting safe practices and providing safety training programs including First Aid and CPR.
And that is not all…
This year, partnering with City Year, CSX brought together employees from different divisions of the company to provide over 7,000 youth with school supplies that they need to stay in school and on track to graduate. CSX is truly committed to working with City Year to help make communities more beautiful as well as improve the lives of children in schools.
Watch this great video below to learn more about the CSX Leadership Project that brought so much joy and valuable resources to schools in which City Year serves!
And that is not all…
This year, partnering with City Year, CSX brought together employees from different divisions of the company to provide over 7,000 youth with school supplies that they need to stay in school and on track to graduate. CSX is truly committed to working with City Year to help make communities more beautiful as well as improve the lives of children in schools.
Watch this great video below to learn more about the CSX Leadership Project that brought so much joy and valuable resources to schools in which City Year serves!
Friday, April 29, 2011
Reflection - A Typical Week in the Life of a Care Force Senior Corps Member
by Florence Capinding
Projects to be completed for this event: Construct an outdoor classroom, 5 benches, 2 cubbies, and 2 bookcases; Paint 3 classrooms, 3 hallways, 10 canvas murals, 2 outdoor wall murals, and 10 indoor wall murals; Assemble new furniture and new electronics for classrooms.
Day of Travel:
Hour 1 - Arrive at Boston Logan International Airport at 7 am East Coast time. Flight delayed.
Hours 3, 4, & 5 - Crying baby in the plane seat behind me.
Hour 12 - Arrive in a Midwest city at 9 pm central time. Drive to the hotel.
Hour 13 - Go to bed.
Prep Day 1
Hour 1- Wake up at 7 am. Eat breakfast at hotel. Eggs and bacon. I love bacon. Drive to service site.
Hour 2 - Arrive at service site. Service site is old. Faded. Underserved. Care Force circles as a team
and performs a readiness check—Timberland boots. Black or white socks. Pressed pants. Shirt tucked in.
Belt. Nametag. Heart. Mind. Smile. Soul. Can Do Attitude—then we meet the staff at the community center. Staff thank us for coming. They all have big smiles and are very excited for the work we are going to perform there.
Hour 3 - Tape fixtures and tarp floor so paint will not get on them.
Hour 4 - Unload wood order from Home Depot for our construction projects. 400 pieces of lumber to be exact. Who needs the gym when you can just move pieces of lumber for your day job? Measure wood. Cut wood. Shop for groceries to make lunch for the week.
Hour 5 - Sandwiches for lunch.
Hour 6 - Measure and cut more wood.
Hour 7 - Measure and cut more wood. That’s right. More. I’m thankful for my team. Committed and hard working.
Hour 8- Kids arrive at center. They ask us what we are doing. We tell them we are preparing for a day of service. They smile and go to their afternoon programs.
Hour 10 - We end the day early. We debrief the day. Rose: I love the staff at the community center. Thorn: didn’t finish cutting wood. Drive to hotel.
Hour 11 – Team and I explore the city. Amazing city. Dinner at a Mexican restaurant. Taco Tuesday. Yum-o. Drive back to hotel.
Hour 15- Go to bed. Tired.
Prep Day 2
Hour 1 - Wake up at 7 am. Eat breakfast at hotel. Eggs and bacon again. But I love bacon so it’s okay. Drive to service site.
Hour 2 - We circle as a team and perform readiness check. Boots. Black or white socks. Pressed pants. Shirt tucked in. Belt. Nametag. Heart. Mind. Smile. Soul. Can Do Attitude.
Hour 3 - Finally cut the 400th piece of wood. Hooray!
Hour 5 - Sandwiches for lunch.
Hour 6 - Start sketching murals on walls. Lots of murals.
Hour 8 - Talk to the youth during their afterschool program. Play a round of kickball with them. Nice kids. Kids’ team beats my team at kickball. We share a glorious round of high-fives.
Hour 9 - Sketch more murals. Some in classrooms, some outside.
Hour 12 - Day ends late. We debrief the day. Rose: Playing games with the kids at the community center. Thorn: no thorns. Dinner at a BBQ restaurant. Baked mac n’ cheese, BBQ tips, and cornbread never tasted so good. Drive to hotel.
Hour 14 - Go to bed. Very tired.
Prep Day 3
Hour 1- Wake up at 7 am. Eat Breakfast at hotel. Don’t they have anything other than eggs and bacon? Oh that’s right. Sausage. Eat eggs and bacon. Drive to service site.
Hour 2 - We circle as a team. Boots. Black or white socks. Pressed pants. Shirt tucked in. Belt. Nametag. Heart. Mind. Smile. Soul. Can Do Attitude. Sketch murals again. This time on canvas.
Hour 4 - Start dividing paint for all the murals.
Hour 5 - Sandwiches for lunch. You can never get tired of sandwiches.
Hour 5.5 - Talk to the Staff at the community center about their programs. Great people. We share stories of running activities with youth. We share laughs about youth running us.
Hour 8 – Sketching complete. We begin sorting tools and materials for the big day tomorrow.
Hour 10 - Youth leave center. Move all 400 pieces of lumber to various locations for the different construction projects tomorrow. Gosh I’m going to have really muscular arms by the end of this year. Team agrees with me. I’m going to have really muscular arms by the end of this year.
Hour 13 - Drive to a department store to shop for furniture and electronics. Eat dinner in the food court inside the store. Salty pretzel hits the spot. We debrief the day. Rose: Everyone’s Can-Do attitude. Thorn: I smell bad. Drive back to hotel.
Hour 16 - Arrive at 11 pm. Go to bed. Exhausted.
Event Day
Hour 1 - Wake up at 5 am. The team and I go to IHOP because the hotel doesn’t start cooking eggs and bacon until 6. I order coffee. Lots of coffee. Drive to service site.
Hour 3 - We circle as a team and perform readiness check. Timberland boots. Black or white socks. Pressed pants. Shirt tucked in. Belt. Nametag. Heart. Mind. Smile. Soul. Can Do Attitude. Finalize moving all the tools/materials/furniture/electronics/paint to their final destination.
Hour 4 - Volunteers arrive at 9am. Greet volunteers. Perform physical training—Front, Side, Back, Side, Front. Jumping Jacks. Foot Fires— and begin a powerful day of service.
Hour 4.5 - Show my team of volunteers to the room they will be remodeling. Paint room.
Hour 6 - Paint 2nd coat.
Hour 7 - Lunch break. Check in with Program Manager, see how other projects are progressing.
Hour 8 - Assemble furniture. Assemble more furniture.
Hour 9 - Volunteers discuss where furniture should go.
Hour 9.25 - Mediate volunteers discussions before it is too late and newly assembled furniture is accidently thrown out the window in a brawl.
Hour 10 - Clean beautiful, newly remodeled room. My team of volunteers and I debrief the day. Some reoccurring roses I hear: “working with co-workers outside an office setting,” “making a difference in the community,” “volunteering can be fun,” “having the chance to get their hands dirty.” Some thorns I hear: “I’m going to be sore in the morning,” “I smell bad,” “I wish I could participate in a event with City Year more often.”
Hour 10.5 - Watch youth enter room and become overwhelmed with joy. More high-fives are shared.Watch staff and community members enter room and become overwhelmed with joy. Watch staff cry from joy.
Hour 11- Say sad Goodbyes to all the wonderful people I have met—community members, youth, my team of volunteers—in a brand new, enchanting city I have never visited before. Clean up any remaining messes around center.
Hour 13 – Dinner at a steak house. I order a salad. Too tired to eat a 16 oz steak. Get in some last minute sightseeing. Drive to hotel.
Hour 16 - Sleep like I’m dead.
Next Day
Hour 1 - Arrive in a Midwest city airport at 8 am central time. Flight delayed.
Hour 3, 4, 5 - Snoring person in the plane seat behind me.
Hour 10 - Arrive at Boston Logan International Airport at 8pm east coast time. Go home to my apartment. Happy, I get to sleep in my own bed.
Next Next Day
Hour 1 - Wake up at 7. Refreshed and rejuvenated.
Hour 2 - Commute to City Year Headquarters of Idealism.
Hour 3 - Begin researching the next event. Excited and with a heart full of grace.
Projects to be completed for this event: Construct an outdoor classroom, 5 benches, 2 cubbies, and 2 bookcases; Paint 3 classrooms, 3 hallways, 10 canvas murals, 2 outdoor wall murals, and 10 indoor wall murals; Assemble new furniture and new electronics for classrooms.
Day of Travel:
Hour 1 - Arrive at Boston Logan International Airport at 7 am East Coast time. Flight delayed.
Hours 3, 4, & 5 - Crying baby in the plane seat behind me.
Hour 12 - Arrive in a Midwest city at 9 pm central time. Drive to the hotel.
Hour 13 - Go to bed.
Prep Day 1
Hour 1- Wake up at 7 am. Eat breakfast at hotel. Eggs and bacon. I love bacon. Drive to service site.
Hour 2 - Arrive at service site. Service site is old. Faded. Underserved. Care Force circles as a team
and performs a readiness check—Timberland boots. Black or white socks. Pressed pants. Shirt tucked in.
Belt. Nametag. Heart. Mind. Smile. Soul. Can Do Attitude—then we meet the staff at the community center. Staff thank us for coming. They all have big smiles and are very excited for the work we are going to perform there.
Hour 3 - Tape fixtures and tarp floor so paint will not get on them.
Hour 4 - Unload wood order from Home Depot for our construction projects. 400 pieces of lumber to be exact. Who needs the gym when you can just move pieces of lumber for your day job? Measure wood. Cut wood. Shop for groceries to make lunch for the week.
Hour 5 - Sandwiches for lunch.
Hour 6 - Measure and cut more wood.
Hour 7 - Measure and cut more wood. That’s right. More. I’m thankful for my team. Committed and hard working.
Hour 8- Kids arrive at center. They ask us what we are doing. We tell them we are preparing for a day of service. They smile and go to their afternoon programs.
Hour 10 - We end the day early. We debrief the day. Rose: I love the staff at the community center. Thorn: didn’t finish cutting wood. Drive to hotel.
Hour 11 – Team and I explore the city. Amazing city. Dinner at a Mexican restaurant. Taco Tuesday. Yum-o. Drive back to hotel.
Hour 15- Go to bed. Tired.
Prep Day 2
Hour 1 - Wake up at 7 am. Eat breakfast at hotel. Eggs and bacon again. But I love bacon so it’s okay. Drive to service site.
Hour 2 - We circle as a team and perform readiness check. Boots. Black or white socks. Pressed pants. Shirt tucked in. Belt. Nametag. Heart. Mind. Smile. Soul. Can Do Attitude.
Hour 3 - Finally cut the 400th piece of wood. Hooray!
Hour 5 - Sandwiches for lunch.
Hour 6 - Start sketching murals on walls. Lots of murals.
Hour 8 - Talk to the youth during their afterschool program. Play a round of kickball with them. Nice kids. Kids’ team beats my team at kickball. We share a glorious round of high-fives.
Hour 9 - Sketch more murals. Some in classrooms, some outside.
Hour 12 - Day ends late. We debrief the day. Rose: Playing games with the kids at the community center. Thorn: no thorns. Dinner at a BBQ restaurant. Baked mac n’ cheese, BBQ tips, and cornbread never tasted so good. Drive to hotel.
Hour 14 - Go to bed. Very tired.
Prep Day 3
Hour 1- Wake up at 7 am. Eat Breakfast at hotel. Don’t they have anything other than eggs and bacon? Oh that’s right. Sausage. Eat eggs and bacon. Drive to service site.
Hour 2 - We circle as a team. Boots. Black or white socks. Pressed pants. Shirt tucked in. Belt. Nametag. Heart. Mind. Smile. Soul. Can Do Attitude. Sketch murals again. This time on canvas.
Hour 4 - Start dividing paint for all the murals.
Hour 5 - Sandwiches for lunch. You can never get tired of sandwiches.
Hour 5.5 - Talk to the Staff at the community center about their programs. Great people. We share stories of running activities with youth. We share laughs about youth running us.
Hour 8 – Sketching complete. We begin sorting tools and materials for the big day tomorrow.
Hour 10 - Youth leave center. Move all 400 pieces of lumber to various locations for the different construction projects tomorrow. Gosh I’m going to have really muscular arms by the end of this year. Team agrees with me. I’m going to have really muscular arms by the end of this year.
Hour 13 - Drive to a department store to shop for furniture and electronics. Eat dinner in the food court inside the store. Salty pretzel hits the spot. We debrief the day. Rose: Everyone’s Can-Do attitude. Thorn: I smell bad. Drive back to hotel.
Hour 16 - Arrive at 11 pm. Go to bed. Exhausted.
Event Day
Hour 1 - Wake up at 5 am. The team and I go to IHOP because the hotel doesn’t start cooking eggs and bacon until 6. I order coffee. Lots of coffee. Drive to service site.
Hour 3 - We circle as a team and perform readiness check. Timberland boots. Black or white socks. Pressed pants. Shirt tucked in. Belt. Nametag. Heart. Mind. Smile. Soul. Can Do Attitude. Finalize moving all the tools/materials/furniture/electronics/paint to their final destination.
Hour 4 - Volunteers arrive at 9am. Greet volunteers. Perform physical training—Front, Side, Back, Side, Front. Jumping Jacks. Foot Fires— and begin a powerful day of service.
Hour 4.5 - Show my team of volunteers to the room they will be remodeling. Paint room.
Hour 6 - Paint 2nd coat.
Hour 7 - Lunch break. Check in with Program Manager, see how other projects are progressing.
Hour 8 - Assemble furniture. Assemble more furniture.
Hour 9 - Volunteers discuss where furniture should go.
Hour 9.25 - Mediate volunteers discussions before it is too late and newly assembled furniture is accidently thrown out the window in a brawl.
Hour 10 - Clean beautiful, newly remodeled room. My team of volunteers and I debrief the day. Some reoccurring roses I hear: “working with co-workers outside an office setting,” “making a difference in the community,” “volunteering can be fun,” “having the chance to get their hands dirty.” Some thorns I hear: “I’m going to be sore in the morning,” “I smell bad,” “I wish I could participate in a event with City Year more often.”
Hour 10.5 - Watch youth enter room and become overwhelmed with joy. More high-fives are shared.Watch staff and community members enter room and become overwhelmed with joy. Watch staff cry from joy.
Hour 11- Say sad Goodbyes to all the wonderful people I have met—community members, youth, my team of volunteers—in a brand new, enchanting city I have never visited before. Clean up any remaining messes around center.
Hour 13 – Dinner at a steak house. I order a salad. Too tired to eat a 16 oz steak. Get in some last minute sightseeing. Drive to hotel.
Hour 16 - Sleep like I’m dead.
Next Day
Hour 1 - Arrive in a Midwest city airport at 8 am central time. Flight delayed.
Hour 3, 4, 5 - Snoring person in the plane seat behind me.
Hour 10 - Arrive at Boston Logan International Airport at 8pm east coast time. Go home to my apartment. Happy, I get to sleep in my own bed.
Next Next Day
Hour 1 - Wake up at 7. Refreshed and rejuvenated.
Hour 2 - Commute to City Year Headquarters of Idealism.
Hour 3 - Begin researching the next event. Excited and with a heart full of grace.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Care Force Chronicle- Washington, D.C.
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CSX Volunteers participating in Physical Training (PT) |
By Aundrea Dean
Volunteers: 50
Service Partner: Anacostia Watershed SocietyWhen: March 22-25, 2011
TCF: Aundrea Dean; Project Manager Hugh Harlow
Reserves: City Year Washington D.C. Corps Members: Craig Tinker, Peter Christophersen, Whitney Parnell, and Michael DeAugustinis
After working six and a half hours in the office on April 7, 2011, Hugh Harlow, a Project Manager for City Year’s Team Care Force walked over to my desk and says “Dean, it’s time to go!” I quickly changed out of my uniform and I was ready to go. So I thought. I forgot to pack another pair of shoes. Normally this would not have been an issue; I could just wear my Timberland boots. But this trip we were going to dinner with Tori Kaplan, the Director of Corporate Citizenship at CSX. Great, just my luck!
We decided I would buy a new pair of shoes once we got to Washington D.C. we gathered our stuff and head to the airport. Our plane departed the Logan Airport around 7 p.m. Because we were stuck flying behind a slow moving jet and abnormally high winds, what should have only been an hour flight to Washington D.C. turned out to be an hour and a half. This trip started off on a great foot.
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CSX Volunteers clearing trash along the Anacostia River |
Once we landed, gathered our things from baggage claim, and rented the car, we met up with Hugh’s sister, Magueritte, for dinner. It was nice being able to meet Hugh’s sister and hear all of the embarrassing childhood stories she was willing to share.
Friday April 8th, Hugh and I arrived at the City Year D.C. office to pick up Craig Tinker, Peter Christophersen, Whitney Parnell, and Michael DeAugustinis; City Year Corps Members that were assisting us with the event. We drove to Bladensburg Waterfront Park where we met with Eric Sibley from the Anacostia Watershed Society.
Eric enlightened our team about the importance of having the CSX volunteers participate in the river cleanup as part of the Earth Day Celebration. The Anacostia River has been polluted with sewage, storm water runoff, and litter for decades. The Anacostia Watershed Society continues to host events such as these and partakes in other initiatives with the purpose of restoring the Anacostia River and its watershed communities. Eric explained that service events such as this promotes awareness of the rivers issues and continues to build local support.
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CSX Volunteers hard at work cleaning up the river |
After several hours of cleaning up the trash and debris from the river, volunteers were able to clearly see the results of their labor. Hundreds of full bags of trash were collected and removed from the river, making this a successful event. Feeling very satisfied with the work they just completed the volunteers were able to enjoy live music and grilled food as a part of the Earth Day Celebration the Anacostia Watershed Society was hosting at Bladensburg Waterfront Park.
The trip started off a little rocky for me, between forgotten shoes, a slow airplane, and a long work day. However, the trip was an overall success because the volunteers enjoyed themselves, the project was transformative, and Tori had fun!
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Care Force Chronicle- Miami, FL
By Dan Nemiroff
Service Partner: Northwest Boys and Girls Club, Kline Boys and Girls Club, Kendall Boys and Girls Club
On Monday morning we finally got to meet our team of awesome City Year Miami Corps Members, after weeks of emails and phone calls. We had a lot of work to do to get prepared for the Hillel students who would be coming the next morning to perform physical and human services with three different Boys & Girls Clubs in Miami. Throughout the day, the team cut wood, organized tools, sketched murals, and primed walls at the Northwest Boys & Girls Club. The Northwest Club, located in Opa Locka, provides great services to the community, and is a safe haven for the students that it serves. Their staff, headed by Unit Director, Mr. Wilcox, was very welcoming to us, and super helpful in assisting us as we prepared for the exciting week ahead. That evening, Aundrea and I met Michelle and the other Hillel Staff members to talk about the week’s plan and get on the same page.
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Hillel Volunteers hard at work building benches |
Partner: Hillel
Volunteers: 85
When: March 22-25, 2011
TCF: Aundrea Dean and Dan Nemiroff
Reserves: City Year Miami Corps Members: Kristi Demartino, Marvin Toliver, Vanessa Christiansen, and Drew Campbell; City Year Miami Senior Corps Members: Dan McGinnis, Chris Cartagena; City Year Miami Staff: Noah Youngstrom and Aaron Gougis
Aundrea Dean and I had the pleasure of touching down in beautiful Miami on March 20th after a few long, freezing months in Boston! That day, we got settled, made a few runs to stock up on supplies and got some rest. Reserves: City Year Miami Corps Members: Kristi Demartino, Marvin Toliver, Vanessa Christiansen, and Drew Campbell; City Year Miami Senior Corps Members: Dan McGinnis, Chris Cartagena; City Year Miami Staff: Noah Youngstrom and Aaron Gougis
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The Northwest Boys and Girls Club |
On Tuesday morning, the Hillel students arrived at the Northwest Club and got off of the buses ready for service! The day started with some Physical Training and a warm welcome from Mr. Wilcox. Before we knew it, the teams were dividing up and getting to work! The work continued until a much needed lunch break. Once lunch was done, the Hillel students split into two teams and headed out to the Kline and Kendall Boys & Girls Clubs to help with the afterschool programs there. After two fun hours of playing, reading, art, and sports, Day 1 ended with a debrief and reflection about the day.
Wednesday and Thursday flew by, and the Hillel students provided amazing energy and hard work. Led by their City Year Project Coordinators, the students painted, built, organized, and cleaned in areas all around the Northwest Boys & Girls Club. Thursday also represented the students’ last days volunteering with the afterschool programs at the Kline and Kendall Clubs. Though bittersweet when saying goodbye, the volunteers seemed thrilled to be working with the afterschool students, and did an awesome job at helping out the wonderful staff members at those Clubs.
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Newly Completed Mural Benches |
On Friday the Hillel students came ready to put the finishing touches on all of the projects that they had worked hard at all week. By Friday afternoon the volunteers had finished painting 20 decorative panel murals, building, painting and installing a new entrance sign, painting 4 wall murals, repainting the art room, repainting the snack room, building 5 art tables, 2 bookshelves, 5 cubbies, 2 picnic tables, 8 backless benches, and 8 mural benches! A fantastic amount of work!
In all, the week was great. The Hillel students, from Binghamton, University of Maryland, UC Davis, Kent State, and Univercity of Illinois Urbana/Champagne were flexible, hard-working, energetic and really passionate about service. For Aundrea and I, this was the first project that we were able to lead on our own. We loved being able to plan out all of the details of the event, and learned a lot throughout the entire process. We also gained a profound respect for the work and leadership of all of the Care Force Staff members!
A special thank you to everyone from Hillel, especially Mimi & Michelle who were incredibly supportive in planning the week. Also, a huge thank you to the prep team from City Year Miami!
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Dan and Aundrea with the City Year Miami Prep Team! |
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Care Force Chronicle- Miami, FL
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Hillel Volunteers at Gould's Park, Miami, FL. |
Volunteers: 20
Service Partner: Camp City Year
When: March 15-18, 2011
TCF: Steadman Graves and Georgia LawrenceIn November, Georgia and I found out that we were being given the opportunity to plan an alternative spring break for college students involved with their campus’ Hillel organization. Hillel’s mission is to enrich the lives of Jewish undergraduate and graduate students so that they may enrich Jewish people and the world.
In February, Georgia and I started preparing for the Hillel event that we would be leading in March by having weekly calls with Caryn Lavernia, the Program Director for City Year Miami, and Miriam Rozmaryn, the Assistant Director of Immersion Experiences for Hillel. The more time that passed the more I realized that this event would be different from a typical Care Force trip. Hillel Alternative Spring Break trips are an opportunity for students to volunteer for an entire week in a new city, instead of our usual one day event. Another major difference for us this time was that there was no physical service involved, and instead we would be leading the Hillel volunteers through Camp City Year, run by City Year Miami. Camp City Year is an annual camp for kids on spring break so that they have somewhere safe and productive to be instead of home alone or on the streets. I thought that it would be a cool experience because we do not usually work with children, but I was apprehensive about leading such an unusual event.
Georgia and I flew down to Miami on the 13th of March and as soon as we landed the weather was a complete 180 from Boston. Boston had seemed to have been hit with a curse this winter and it had snowed a lot. Miami was warm, it was beautiful and it was just the right place to be at the right time. On Tuesday morning, 20 Hillel volunteers arrived at Goulds Park, which is a recreational center located in South Miami-Dade where Camp City Year was held. Their energy really boosted my energy. They were eager to meet Georgia and I, and also excited to meet the kids.
Throughout the week the Hillel volunteers filled three positions, Team Leader, Program Coordinator, and Logistics. The roles that the Hillel volunteers filled were very essential to make camp run smoothly. Team Leaders worked with a set team of youth all day and they transitioned from activity to activity with their team. Program Coordinators were in charge of running the sports, arts and craft, education and theatre activities for the day. The folks on the Logistics team were in charge of cleaning up, sorting supplies, preparing lunch, assisting with registration and signing students in and out of camp. We wanted the Hillel students to get the full experience; and participate in each role, so we created a block schedule where each volunteer could fill each role for the same amount of time. Creating that block schedule had not been easy, and at times, was frustrating to figure out. However, when we got to Miami and placed the volunteers with their team, things ran smoothly, proving that “hard work pays off” is an accurate statement.
I saw so much growth in the Hillel volunteers that week. At first they approached this experience without being fully aware of the issues facing the community. When they realized this, they had the courage to step out of their comfort zone, and learn about students with lives far different from their own. Their eyes were opened to problems that they had never seen before, and they did not turn their backs to it, they embraced it. They became more aware of the poverty and lack of education and resources that affect that part of Miami and other communities like it. As City Year corps members we get that experience over the course of ten months. It was amazing to see the change that happened in them over the course of four days. It was inspiring to learn that they wanted to continue giving back to those less fortunate and be a positive figure in children’s lives.
I want to thank City Year Miami, for hosting us and the Hillel volunteers, during their annual Camp City Year. I also want to thank City Year Miami for being flexible and allowing us to switch things around when we needed to. Additionally, I want to thank Hillel for the experience that it gives its students and the opportunity that they gave to me. I was able to witness the growth that occurred in the students and I hope that they continue to grow. I encourage the Hillel volunteers to continue to put themselves in squishy* positions, and serve in places where they are needed, because they are agents of change.
*City Year Putting Idealism to Work #66: Do three "squishy" things a day. You know you are truly leading when you do at least three things a day that make you a little bit uncomfortable.
Monday, April 18, 2011
Care Force Training Video: Taping and Tarping
Click below to watch the official Care Force training video and learn how to properly tape and tarp a room before painting!
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Care Force Stone Soup
Each Wedenesday at City Year's Headquarters of Idealism, everyone in the building is invited to a "Stone Soup Sweet Wednesday" (SSSW) breakfast. City Year corps and staff members from every floor mingle, eat light breakfast foods, and drink coffee.
The name "Stone Soup" is an allusion to one of City Year's founding stories. The Stone Soup story begins with a traveler, who is tired and weary from a long journey and happens upon a village. After asking several villagers for food and being denied, the traveler starts boiling a pot of water, put a stone in it, and passerbys become interested in the "stone soup." Members of the village begin contributing different ingredients to the soup, and soon there is a feast for a whole village. The story is a great reminder of how powerful it can be to engage and organize resources for everyone to share.
The Stone Soup tradition at HQ was founded in the fall of 2004 by Charlie Rose, Sean McDevitt and a few other dedicated bakers, and was inspired by staff member Philippe Taieb. It is a great community building initiative and a fun way to make connections across departments and teams. Throughout the year, different departments at HQ volunteer to host a SSSW, creating a theme and bringing in food and decorations.
This past Wednesday, April 6th, Care Force sponsored SSSW. We transformed the third floor into Care Force Studios and held live screenings of "Minute to Win It" and "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives." Our very own Program Manager, Ken Wakwe, acted as our host, Guy Fieri. Visitors enjoyed omelets, home fries, corned beef hash, pastries, and fruit kabobs and also took part in sixty-second challenges. It was a great time for everyone involved!
Check out the video below for the live footage of the event!
The name "Stone Soup" is an allusion to one of City Year's founding stories. The Stone Soup story begins with a traveler, who is tired and weary from a long journey and happens upon a village. After asking several villagers for food and being denied, the traveler starts boiling a pot of water, put a stone in it, and passerbys become interested in the "stone soup." Members of the village begin contributing different ingredients to the soup, and soon there is a feast for a whole village. The story is a great reminder of how powerful it can be to engage and organize resources for everyone to share.
The Stone Soup tradition at HQ was founded in the fall of 2004 by Charlie Rose, Sean McDevitt and a few other dedicated bakers, and was inspired by staff member Philippe Taieb. It is a great community building initiative and a fun way to make connections across departments and teams. Throughout the year, different departments at HQ volunteer to host a SSSW, creating a theme and bringing in food and decorations.
This past Wednesday, April 6th, Care Force sponsored SSSW. We transformed the third floor into Care Force Studios and held live screenings of "Minute to Win It" and "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives." Our very own Program Manager, Ken Wakwe, acted as our host, Guy Fieri. Visitors enjoyed omelets, home fries, corned beef hash, pastries, and fruit kabobs and also took part in sixty-second challenges. It was a great time for everyone involved!
Check out the video below for the live footage of the event!
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Preview: Care Force Training Video
You thought you knew how to tape and tarp a room....
You thought you were an expert on ladder safety....
...Until now!
Care Force is proud to present a preview of their first ever Taping and Tarping Training video.
Watch below to see a sneak peek of our final production coming soon!
You thought you were an expert on ladder safety....
...Until now!
Care Force is proud to present a preview of their first ever Taping and Tarping Training video.
Watch below to see a sneak peek of our final production coming soon!
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Care Force Chronicle- Los Angeles, CA
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Hillel Students listening to instructions before begining service. |
Partner: Hillel
Volunteers: 98
Service Partner: Nora Sterry Elementary School and Palms Elementary School
When: March 8-11,2011
TCF: Phillip St. Clair and Emily Kean
TCF: Phillip St. Clair and Emily Kean
Reserves: City Year Los Angeles Corps Members: Amy Plouff, Dineth Sosa, Libby DeLay, Nick Heister, Mike Cherry and Rich Ruff; City Year Los Angeles Senior Corps Members Laura Lee; and Project Manager Bert Rivera
Phill and I were given the opportunity to plan an alternative spring break for college students involved in their campus’s Hillel organization. With the help of Project Managers Ken Wakwe and Bert Rivera we were able to have a successful and inspiring service week for 98 Hilllel students in west Los Angeles. Students came from Michigan State, Old Dominion, Penn State, Vermont, Virginia Tech, Alpha Epsilon Pi, and some additional colleges.
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Hillel Student finishing painting a built bench. |
Each morning during the week the Hillel students had the chance to learn a variety of physical service skills at Nora Sterry Elementary. Nora Sterry serves 390 Pre-K – 5th grade students in fifteen general education classrooms. The Hillel students completed 8 large hallway murals, built 4 children’s mural benches, built 6 decorative recycling can holders, built 7 picnic tables, painted 12 outdoor storage containers, and painted 4 additional murals for outside the school.
In the afternoon, fifty of the Hillel students stayed at Nora Sterry and worked in the STAR afterschool program tutoring and mentoring youth from the school. The other half of the group traveled to Palms Elementary and worked in two different afterschool programs; YMCA and Youth Services. Palms Elementary School serves approximately 440 K-5th grade students living in the Palms neighborhood. The afterschool programs provide students with a safe place to go for both recreational and academic activities. Hillel students continued to spend time in the same afterschool program everyday so they could help with homework, partipate in games and begin to form meaningful relationships with the students. On the last day both the elementary students and the Hillel volunteers were sad to say goodbye. |
| City Year Los Angeles Reserves |
Overall, the week was a great learning experience. The Hillel students learned a lot about physical and human service. And by leading the entire event ourselves, Phill and I were able to learn a lot about what it is like to be a Project Manager for Care Force.
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