On Saturday, December 11, City Year San Jose/Silicon Valley partnered with NVIDIA Corporation for the annual Project Inspire physical service day with History Park San Jose, Schmahl Science Center and the Kelly Park neighborhood in San Jose. The site was chosen to renovate one of the only free educational and entertainment destinations in the city, as well as build science facilities for the thousands of children that visit the park each year, and to improve the health of the entire neighborhood by providing access to fresh produce and nutrition education.
During this powerful day of service, volunteers built science facilities, improved the grounds, painted decorative murals, and renovated buildings. They also built a Victory Garden, a community garden which will supply the neighborhood with fresh food and produce, and a large working greenhouse that will enable more than 2,300 children to discover science in a hands-on learning environment.
2010 marked the 10th year that NVIDIA Corporation has performed community service in lieu of an employee holiday party. This is the second year that NVIDIA has partnered with City Year to organize and implement a large-scale project in San Jose.
What was accomplished on December 11th, 2010?
- 3 fences were built
- 7 picnic tables were built and painted
- 14 benches were built and painted
- 60+ lamp posts were painted, energy efficient bulbs installed, and globes cleaned
- 7 buildings at History Park were painted
- 5 murals were created-some over 100 feet long!
- The demonstration and Victory Garden areas were created, borders were installed and the areas covered with plastic barriers
- A total of 59 drip watering systems were built and installed
- Both garden areas were covered with plastic sheeting and decomposed granite
- 59 raised beds were built and placed in the two garden areas
- 2 garden sheds were built
- 1 large classroom greenhouse was completely assembled and installed
- 800 square foot gardens were constructed, including soil and seed packets
Left: City Year San Jose/Silicon Valley Executive Director Beach Pace with NVIDIA Co-founder Chris Malachowsky
Right: Senior Corps member Krista Corwin works with NVIDIA volunteers to build a bench
“Every member of the City Year team I met shares a sense of being a part of something greater than themselves. Every member was trained and had internalized that they are role models. Some (staff and corps) had been with City Year for several years while others had been with City Year only a few months. From their spirit and actions, it was hard to tell the difference.” -Meril Smith, Schmahl Science Center