City Year Los Angeles’ First Ever Virtual Service Day!

On September 17^th, City Year Los Angeles’ Civic Engagement (CE) Team held the site’s first ever virtual service day for employees of CYLA Team Sponsor Capital Group.

The event brought service to life virtually, as participants came together to complete a remote beautification project for one lucky Los Angeles Unified School District Campus.

The City Year value that was at the heart of this virtual service day, as described by the Civic Engagement Team, was “Service to a cause greater than self. We dedicate ourselves to addressing shared civic challenges through unified action.”

This City Year value guided the day’s events, and without a doubt the participants left with a sense of unity and community through service. Nancy Lim from the Capital group touched on this point as she reflected on the day, stating, “As you can imagine, this period of living under COVID conditions has been challenging. Today’s painting session really helped me to remind myself of how me family and I have ‘thrived’…despite the many challenges we’ve faced as a family. I was able to share the finished product with my son – and we had a wonderful discussion about what City Year‘s missional values are, and also the personal ways in which we in our family have ‘thrived’ these last few months”.

In preparation for the Virtual Service Day, the CE Team put together service kits that were mailed out to each participant ahead of the event. Inside of the kits, participants found all the materials necessary to make the service day successful. They were provided painting supplies, resource guides for the painting project, and enough leaves for them and their family members who wanted to join in on the fun.

Everything was carefully curated and structured for the event, but the team made sure to leave enough room for participants to get creative with their artwork and really have fun with it.

During the event, Capital Group employees and their families painted leaves with messages of growth, creativity, and self-care on them. Later this year, once we have gathered all of the leaves that were painted, making sure to follow all safety regulations and guidelines, the leaves will be combined and transformed into a Wisdom Tree installation at a Los Angeles Unified School District campus that will be chosen at a later date.

Although we are not able to go to the school right now and piece the work together, we cannot wait for students to return to campus and see the beautiful mural that was designed. Each leaf carries a special meaning, and our hope is that as our students walk past the mural in the hall, they will be inspired and motivated to finish each day strong.

As the group painted, the CE team guided discussion and welcomed questions about the service City Year Los Angeles has completed thus far. Leaving the door open for participant engagement and communication helped make the event as personable and organic as possible. Especially throughout the pandemic where even co-workers are rarely able to interact as often as they are used to in the office, the virtual service event was a great way to allow everyone to come together, take a work break with their community, and do good with some self-care painting.

City Year Los Angeles Civic Engagement Program Manager Kurcel Joseph had this to say about his team and all of their efforts to make the virtual service day happen, “I am astronomically proud of my team. They have completely changed the game when it comes to physical service and have ushered in the new era of virtual life. Their innovation, dedication, and passion is inspiring to say the least. I am very honored to lead a top notch team of champions and am excited to see what they bring to the rest of the year.”

Thank you again to Capital Group for joining us for our first ever virtual service day and helping us bring the event to life. And thank you, Los Angeles Civic Engagement Team, for all the hard work you put into this event to make it as successful as it was. We cannot wait to see all the innovative ways you will continue to inspire change through service this year. We would also like to extend a huge thank you to our Associates Board Co-Chair and Director of Investment Operations at Capital Group, Kimberley Monasterio, for playing a big part in making the day happen. We could not have made the impact that was made that day without each and every one of you.