Care Force Chronicle-Miami, FL

By: Florence Capinding

BUNN emplyees installing

gutter systems around

buildings at Troy Community

Academy.



Partner: BUNN

Volunteers: 130

Service Partner: Troy Community Academy

When: January 2-7, 2011

TCF: Georgia Lawrence, Steadman Graves, Dylan Morril, Florence Capinding; Project Manager Susan Bensen, Project Manager Huw McDonald.

Reserves: Meghan O'Toole Strategy Analyst at City Year Headquarters; and Taylor Ferguson Development Manager at City Year New Hamphsire.

This was my first Care Force trip for the year 2011. And what better way to transition from winter break and back into service than having an event in beautiful Miami, FL! Susan, Georgia, Dylan, Steadman, and myself were joined by reserves Meghan O'Toole and Taylor Ferguson. This was our first Care Force event sponsored by BUNN, an international company that designs and manufactures in-home coffee brewers and commercial beverage equipment. Care Force and BUNN collaborated to serve at Troy Community Academy.


City Year Staff member,

Meghan O'Toole distributing

paint to volunteers.



Troy Community Academy (TCA) is a Miami-Dade County Public school and Department of Juvenile Justice Day Treatment Program. TCA provides supervision and education to at-risk youth and also runs a successful horticultural program which teaches students the techniques and benefits of growing their own fruits and vegetables. Each week students sell their crops at farmers markets, allowing them to interact with the community and to earn extra money. In addition, the school operates the award winning Teen Cuisine Restaurant which is run by a TCA teacher with students from the school. The students learn how to prepare meals, gain work experience, and earn a stipend. The Teen Cuisine menu is anything but plain. They offer a variety of choices including hamburgers, jumbalaya, buffalo wings, and seasoned fries to name a few. TCA is truly a remarkable school.




The majority of our projects for the event were designed to enhance and improve the horticulture program at the school. During the preparation days before the big event, the team was busy measuring and cutting wood, sketching murals, and hunting for cardboard. Yes cardboard. Ben Thacker, the horticulture program director taught us how cardboard could be used in gardens. The cardboard is placed on top of the grass around where the plants grow and then covered with dirt, compost, or mulch. This keeps the grass and weeds from continuing to grow and is a more eco-friendly method than using plastic or cloth because the cardboard breaks down naturally over time.



Teen Cuisine students prepared lunch
for the event.



On Thursday, the event day, we quickly learned how great BUNN employees are! They served alongside Troy Community Academy students and staff, and local community members. Everyone was self-motivated and always ready to jump into more service to improve the school. It was no wonder that we were able to accomplish so much in such a short amount of time. For lunch we all enjoyed delicious bag lunches provided by the Teen Cuisine restaurant.

We completed six projects that day which included:

• Extending the vegetable garden for the horticulture program
• Landscaping the perimeter of the entrance by planting 50+ native plants and shrubs.
• Constructing 5 picnic tables, 6 planter boxes, 5 mural benches, and 3 double planters.
• Constructing an outdoor classroom
• Painting 15 panel murals
• Repairing a green house and stone pathway; as well as installing a gutter system and rain barrel structure to collect rain water for the garden.



Troy Community Academy

students helping landscape

around the school.



BUNN employees repairing a worn-down green house.



I am confident that the projects completed by the 130 dedicated BUNN employees that day will be sustained by the students and faculty, and will leave lasting benefits for the school and community for years to come.