Build Day #14

Today we piled into the van and headed about fifteen miles down the road to work within organization named Echo, an amazing non-profit which runs a wide variety of programs in San Jose County. We were at their preschool and would be helping them build a playground for thier kids, as well as work to clean up the grounds.

 

After a quick intro about the organization we split up to work on a variety of tasks. The directions for the playground were less than optimal ... Just imagine IKEA directions, but a hundred times worse. As a result we elected Alicia, one of our riders, to head up overseeing the entire build project because she was an architecture major in school.

Stephanie, Kristin and I set off to set up some of the walls and were definitely having some trouble interpreting the directions. On the front page there was an estimation for how long the project would take us, thirty minutes, so we decided we would time ourselves and see how we stacked up. We got most of it done in about twenty minutes, but were not able to finish everything because the main structural poles were not in place just yet.

There was lots of direction reading, seriously though

 

From there a bunch of us started to mix concrete which would be poured around the structural poles. The downfall of the concrete was that each bag was eighty pounds so really really heavy. After mixing a few batches and with a bunch of us waiting in the wings we decided to take our union mandated break and headed inside for coffee. While we were filling up on some snacks and much needed caffeine we started talking with the ED Sarah who gave us a rundown of the organization and the work theyhd been doing. She took over the organization in the 1960s and brought it out of bankruptcy into what it is today. They currently run their own food pantry, help build homes and get people USDA 502 grants, run financial literacy programs and a preschool and after school program. We also go to talking about organizations in the area and it was great to see how much they collaborate with each other. For instance, if one group sees a grant which fits another's mission statement they will pass the information along instead of trying to chase that same money. The interconnected relationships they have created are a rarity in the NGO world, or at least from the world I have seen, and I was super impressed.

 

After our break it was back to mixing concrete and getting the structural poles in place. We did learn that if you were covered with too much concrete and then applied sunscreen it would turn your skin a funny green color. Marcus looked like the Incredible Hulk in the right light, the picture does to do him justice.

 

The local news even showed up to do an article on our build day.

Once we had wrapped up lunch the playground really began to take shape. We got the platforms up, started installing slides and putting up the walls.

Susan andi started to install the walls and we had a rough time drilling the screws into the metal pole because there were no pre-measured holes. Look at this teamwork and brute force.

 

Unfortunately we were not able to finish the site because of a huge thunder and lightening storm which rolled in, but the before and after pictures are still great.

 

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