There’s no other word to describe the playground build yesterday but to say, “Wow!.” We tallied over 300 volunteers from as far as England came to help build a playground and a dozen other playground structures for the students of Oakland’s Community School for Creative Education.
Everybody, and I mean everybody pitched in to build, organize and clean. It was touching to see the unselfish commitment of all the volunteers as each share tools and expertise.
I was impressed by Kristin Karcsh and her KaBoom! team. They had organization and logistics down to a science. I don’t know how often I bugged Kristin and Emily during the day to get guidance and additional tools.
I’m also very proud of my Jetblue colleagues. Crew members from different cities and departments and even Jetblue pilot, Captain Russ showed up to get their hands dirty. All the General Managers from all the Bay Area cities, San Jose, Oakland, San Francisco and Sacramento came early and stayed late to finish their projects. It was specially fun to watch SFO’s GM, Ken Johnson get covered in concrete dust as they mixed it for some of the play structure’s foundation. Knowing SJC GM, Matt Ketcher’s affinity for power tools, he was in heaven building a huge stage with OAK’s GM, Rhonda Blair. SMF GM, Rudy Lucero would not be outdone as he helped build parts of the playground structure with his team.
In my experience, great events bring in great people. It was a pleasure to help KPFA DJ, Jose Ruiz set up his gear at 7am. He got there early and full of jokes. It was fun. He and DJ Scott Manley played throughout the day. Trust me; music made the task lighter and time fly faster. Their music selection was worldly, fun and upbeat.
I counted over five professional photographers who also stayed the whole day. One of them was Rafael Ramirez, who shoots professionally for San Francisco’s Public Works. He said that he loves being in volunteer events because they yield great moments to photograph. I agree. I wished I had more time with my camera too. Michael from Alameda’s Photography Association also deserves notice. The guy carried three pro camera’s around his neck and kept shooting. He’s a very friendly guy too.
My good friend, Joi Glass from High Street’s 24-hour fitness did not disappoint. She had the volunteers’ adrenaline going before the building started. She did admit that the large crowd intimidated her at first but as a true pro, she didn’t miss a beat. Thanks, Joi!
As the day went on, I couldn’t help but to take a step back and observe the goodness in humanity. People from the community, school, all walks of life and great distances came to help each other and create a good environment for kids. Everybody was dirty, sweaty yet smiling and laughing knowing that their contribution, no matter how big or small, will leave an indelible mark in the future of the school and its students.
This was summarized by CSCE’s principal, Becky Westbrook in her speech during the ribbon-cutting ceremony. With her voice cracking, her eyes swelling with tears she thanked everyone from the bottom of her heart and ended that “it’s all for the kids.”
A perfect ending for a perfect day. Thanks everyone!