As the morning progresses, cell phones ring at an increasing pace. Project managers have questions needing answers and miscommunication has to be straightened out. Of the 150 dumpsters Beautiful Day has been allocated on this bright Saturday morning, none have been delivered to Camp Coyote. The ability to pick up and drop off these massive containers has been stretched to it's very limit by the efforts of Beautiful Day's volunteers and, unfortunately, one site is still waiting for its receptacle to arrive. Though disappointed, we can't help but be amazed. Just over halfway through the morning and Beautiful Day is well ahead of schedule in terms of clean-up.
Our first stop in Alviso is on Michigan Avenue. Having passed several houses being worked on, we've arrived at one of the most in need of drastic repair. The overall scope of the work organized by Jim Buchanan and Bob Froese comes into focus -- 41 homes are being cared for as if they are the only one being worked on. Excitement pulses through the community and it's difficult not to be caught up in it. (I am so overjoyed, I nearly shake Bob silly when I first see him.) As with all the sites we visit throughout the day, the evidence of impactful change has begun taking shape. For the first time, after months of preparation, I am witnessing what committed people can do for a community.
We stop at handful of other sites on our way to lunch, walking past a tray of homemade muffins and fruit punch placed at the end of a driveway with a large, hand-written sign: "ALVISO WELCOMES ALL VOLUNTEERS."
This becomes evident as I talk with residents watching a fresh coat of paint being applied to their home. Despite all they see, disbelief still shows up in their expressions. It's as if, after all the town has been through since the flood in 1983, they still can't help but ask, "Is this really happening?"
In truth, I find myself feeling the exact same way.
After a tremendous lunch at Maria Elena's, we head out to check on several other projects. It becomes clear the volunteers are more than willing to complete whatever is presented to them. Concerns regarding the number of workers have been somewhat alleviated, as twelve-hour projects have been finished in a morning by industrious teams at some locations. The issue now is reallocating people to maintain the level of service provided and ensure tasks are done right.
Those of us in the Command Vehicle are on the way to Buchser Middle School as the sun crosses the mid-afternoon sky. The pace of chatter has slowed significantly since the morning rush. Eight hours running from site to site has caught up with us all as we head to WestGate Church to split into two cars. (Courtney Cordero, who had been driving us around in her aunt's Ford Expedition, had to get ready for her graduation party.)
At 3:15, we make it to Buchser as the project is winding down. The principal, who gamely rose to join in the work on his day off, expresses his gratitude and wonder at the Beautiful Day volunteers' efforts to spruce up the campus. It's subtle and hard for me to appreciate because I've only seen the school under cover of darkness, but hand rails and benches gleam with a fresh coat of paint. Road squares are covered in a diagonal pattern of black and red, the school colors. Nearby, powerwashed surfaces glisten in the afternoon sun. One can only wonder what the students will think the following Monday morning.
It's almost 4:00pm and the Saturday shifts are coming to a close. With time for one more stop, we pile into the cars and point toward Julian Street to visit the InnVision Revision project. Having been by on Friday morning, I am eager to see the change. I had passed through around the lunch hour, dropping off some supplies and taking stock of the massive amount of demolition being done in the pantry. While all the destruction went on, some volunteers filled the courtyard with boxes of food while others sorted through them to determine what could be kept. Plainly, it was a mess.
A mere twenty-eight hours later, it is a work of art.
New shelves are being filled in the pantry as dishes are being washed in the kitchen. Other than some ladders for the artists painting a mural on the wall and a freezer awaiting its turn to be moved into place, the now-empty courtyard is bathed in sunshine instead of covered in stacks of canned vegetables. Looking in on the refurbished dormitories and shiny new tile on the office floor, I agree with the CEO of InnVision: news stations ought to have been there to bear witness to the "extreme makeover."
I'm left with an overflowing heart as I head home. As the clock turns over 5:00pm, those projects with work to do on Sunday are reaching stopping points as those finished on Saturday wrap up. I feel exhausted, yet unspeakably happy as I walk through the door, greeted by my bouncing niece, whom I will be babysitting for the evening.
"She'll probably fall asleep early," my sister-in-law says during her last-minute instructions.
That makes two of us, I think.
Three hours later, as I listen to the characteristic rustling of a sleeping child echo through the baby monitor, I chuckle. I've managed to find the juice to sift through photos and Facebook posts to see what went on at the Room Refresh sites, marveling at the personal touches produced by the smallest Beautiful Day volunteer teams for the most intimate of projects: sprucing up the bedrooms and kitchens for victims of elder abuse.
I am struck by the love shown in every last detail, from clean streets to brightened houses. Worn out and ready to sleep, I see more pictures have been posted and smile.
Well, maybe I can stay up a bit longer.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
My First Beautiful Day Experience, Part 1
A familiar sound rouses me from a peaceful slumber.
My one-year-old niece is whimpering across the room, half-awake and frustrated at having burrowed herself into the corner of her crib while sleepcrawling. This happens once or twice a night, so I instinctively reach for my iPhone and check the time, careful to minimize the bright light in the darkness.
It's 5:50am on Saturday, May 21st. For many, it's officially Beautiful Day, but not me. I'd been up past midnight, unable to shut down after an "almost-too-fun-to-be-legal" time at the SuperDance for SuperHeroes.
My alarm is set to go off in a half-hour. I tiptoe to my niece's bedside and gently slide her into the middle of the mattress, place the pacifier back in her mouth and return to bed. This has become rare as she's grown but it's still somewhat routine, just common enough for me to know it works every time.
Except this one.
As I pull the covers on and lay my head on the pillow, she sits up and begins talking to me. She's fully awake two hours before normal and showing no signs of returning to dreamland. I pick her up and whisper to her, desperately pulling all the tricks from my uncle bag in the hopes my brother and sister-in-law will be able to keep sleeping after I leave to meet the Beautiful Day leadership team for breakfast.
My niece is determined to stay awake. The extra thirty minutes of sleep I hoped for disappears quickly. Finally, at 6:20, I give up and lay her back down. I've got barely enough time to get dressed and get on the road. I stop and open my laptop to post one last reminder on Facebook about the little ways to help spread the word about our community service efforts using social media.
The phone rings -- it's Jon Talbert. "Hey, have you left yet?"
"Nope. Will be in a minute."
"Can I get a ride?"
It's 6:26am and all I can think about is the proclamation the last one to arrive for breakfast at Holder's on Saratoga Avenue had to buy Starbucks at the morning break. I hop in a borrowed car and speed over to the Talbert residence, arriving fifteen minutes later to find the leader of Beautiful Day bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.
"I woke up at five. I was wide awake. Couldn't get back to sleep." I nod in agreement, though I'd been up for entirely different reasons.
The excitement of the day has energized both of us. As we pull onto Highway 85, the discussion pinballs between events we've seen -- InnVision and the SuperDance -- and the route for the Beautiful Day Command Vehicle to maximize our visits to ongoing projects.
It's almost 7:00am when we join up with the rest of the team. Amazingly, it's only been a few hours since we parted and yet it seems like days. We laugh over breakfast, fueling up for a full day criss-crossing San Jose, intent on visiting as many sites as possible to witness the culmination of months of planning.
An hour later, we pile out of a borrowed Ford Expedition at Pueblo de Dios Lutheran Church. We are greeted by some two dozen volunteers being briefed about the locations they'll be working in as part of the Clean Mile project. Councilman Pete Constant has shown up to offer his support as the groups load up with rakes and trash bags before breaking out into neighborhoods. I smile to myself, taking a moment to marinate in the realization this is the first trickle in a flood of compassion spreading throughout the city.
Next, we make a short trip to Washington Elementary, passing volunteers pulling weeds and picking up garbage. As I walk up to the school parking lot at the intersection of Oak and State Streets, I am moving purposefully alongside a man in a hurry. He has a question: "Can we clear city property?"
A woman who lives nearby has bushes in her front yard and "bad people throw bad things into them" to avoid the police. Being that she's alone, she wants to eliminate any possibility of her home becoming a hot spot in this troubled neighborhood. The answer is simple:
"Take them out." Multiple city officials trust the judgment of Beautiful Day volunteers and, if an issue arises, they are comfortable someone in a "Let it Shine" shirt would make a decision to benefit residents and action can be taken quickly. To cement this fact, I listen as Khoa Nguyen (pronounced "KWAH"), Mayor Chuck Reed's policy advisor, describes meeting with the US Attorney General the day before -- and mentioning Beautiful Day.
I shake my head. This is bigger than I thought.
As we load up again and move towards Camp Coyote. As we roll towards the first of two sites, our driver sheepishly reveals her recent discovery it's a homeless encampment. Knowing the Awakening Alviso project would have a sports camp for local children, she assumed this was the same. Laughter fills the SUV.
Twenty minutes later, reality has set in. We stride along the trails, bumping into a group from Breath of Life Ministries. This handful of people walks through the various locations along Coyote Creek every Saturday, building relationships with the homeless and delivering necessities. We talk for a few moments and exchange information. Kerry is the kind of person we must connect with Housing 1000, a project designed to get the most vulnerable of Santa Clara County's 7,000 homeless into permanent housing within the next two years.
This is my second trip to the area and the scene is vastly different than the first. Law enforcement came through just a week ago. I am stunned as Harry from County Health Services and Donovan, a resident, describe the process. Sadness creeps in as I look on the remains of a Buddhist shrine one resident had erected. The touches I remember from the month before, the carpet and seating -- those things that made it home -- have been swept away. Lives taken for granted, but meaningful nonetheless, have been disrupted.
It feels unfair to leave such squalor for the air-conditioned comfort of the Command Vehicle, but there is still much to see. Having made it to three projects by 10:30am, we are now pointed towards the largest of them all -- Alviso.
My one-year-old niece is whimpering across the room, half-awake and frustrated at having burrowed herself into the corner of her crib while sleepcrawling. This happens once or twice a night, so I instinctively reach for my iPhone and check the time, careful to minimize the bright light in the darkness.
It's 5:50am on Saturday, May 21st. For many, it's officially Beautiful Day, but not me. I'd been up past midnight, unable to shut down after an "almost-too-fun-to-be-legal" time at the SuperDance for SuperHeroes.
My alarm is set to go off in a half-hour. I tiptoe to my niece's bedside and gently slide her into the middle of the mattress, place the pacifier back in her mouth and return to bed. This has become rare as she's grown but it's still somewhat routine, just common enough for me to know it works every time.
Except this one.
As I pull the covers on and lay my head on the pillow, she sits up and begins talking to me. She's fully awake two hours before normal and showing no signs of returning to dreamland. I pick her up and whisper to her, desperately pulling all the tricks from my uncle bag in the hopes my brother and sister-in-law will be able to keep sleeping after I leave to meet the Beautiful Day leadership team for breakfast.
My niece is determined to stay awake. The extra thirty minutes of sleep I hoped for disappears quickly. Finally, at 6:20, I give up and lay her back down. I've got barely enough time to get dressed and get on the road. I stop and open my laptop to post one last reminder on Facebook about the little ways to help spread the word about our community service efforts using social media.
The phone rings -- it's Jon Talbert. "Hey, have you left yet?"
"Nope. Will be in a minute."
"Can I get a ride?"
It's 6:26am and all I can think about is the proclamation the last one to arrive for breakfast at Holder's on Saratoga Avenue had to buy Starbucks at the morning break. I hop in a borrowed car and speed over to the Talbert residence, arriving fifteen minutes later to find the leader of Beautiful Day bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.
"I woke up at five. I was wide awake. Couldn't get back to sleep." I nod in agreement, though I'd been up for entirely different reasons.
The excitement of the day has energized both of us. As we pull onto Highway 85, the discussion pinballs between events we've seen -- InnVision and the SuperDance -- and the route for the Beautiful Day Command Vehicle to maximize our visits to ongoing projects.
It's almost 7:00am when we join up with the rest of the team. Amazingly, it's only been a few hours since we parted and yet it seems like days. We laugh over breakfast, fueling up for a full day criss-crossing San Jose, intent on visiting as many sites as possible to witness the culmination of months of planning.
An hour later, we pile out of a borrowed Ford Expedition at Pueblo de Dios Lutheran Church. We are greeted by some two dozen volunteers being briefed about the locations they'll be working in as part of the Clean Mile project. Councilman Pete Constant has shown up to offer his support as the groups load up with rakes and trash bags before breaking out into neighborhoods. I smile to myself, taking a moment to marinate in the realization this is the first trickle in a flood of compassion spreading throughout the city.
Next, we make a short trip to Washington Elementary, passing volunteers pulling weeds and picking up garbage. As I walk up to the school parking lot at the intersection of Oak and State Streets, I am moving purposefully alongside a man in a hurry. He has a question: "Can we clear city property?"
A woman who lives nearby has bushes in her front yard and "bad people throw bad things into them" to avoid the police. Being that she's alone, she wants to eliminate any possibility of her home becoming a hot spot in this troubled neighborhood. The answer is simple:
"Take them out." Multiple city officials trust the judgment of Beautiful Day volunteers and, if an issue arises, they are comfortable someone in a "Let it Shine" shirt would make a decision to benefit residents and action can be taken quickly. To cement this fact, I listen as Khoa Nguyen (pronounced "KWAH"), Mayor Chuck Reed's policy advisor, describes meeting with the US Attorney General the day before -- and mentioning Beautiful Day.
I shake my head. This is bigger than I thought.
As we load up again and move towards Camp Coyote. As we roll towards the first of two sites, our driver sheepishly reveals her recent discovery it's a homeless encampment. Knowing the Awakening Alviso project would have a sports camp for local children, she assumed this was the same. Laughter fills the SUV.
Twenty minutes later, reality has set in. We stride along the trails, bumping into a group from Breath of Life Ministries. This handful of people walks through the various locations along Coyote Creek every Saturday, building relationships with the homeless and delivering necessities. We talk for a few moments and exchange information. Kerry is the kind of person we must connect with Housing 1000, a project designed to get the most vulnerable of Santa Clara County's 7,000 homeless into permanent housing within the next two years.
This is my second trip to the area and the scene is vastly different than the first. Law enforcement came through just a week ago. I am stunned as Harry from County Health Services and Donovan, a resident, describe the process. Sadness creeps in as I look on the remains of a Buddhist shrine one resident had erected. The touches I remember from the month before, the carpet and seating -- those things that made it home -- have been swept away. Lives taken for granted, but meaningful nonetheless, have been disrupted.
It feels unfair to leave such squalor for the air-conditioned comfort of the Command Vehicle, but there is still much to see. Having made it to three projects by 10:30am, we are now pointed towards the largest of them all -- Alviso.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Four Questions with...Jason Eichacker
How did you get connected with Beautiful Day?About a month after I moved to California and began attending WestGate, I met Jon Talbert. We had lunch a few weeks later and he floated the idea of being a project manager, which I immediately agreed to. Eventually, Joanne Glen saw I'd filled in the member skills survey as a writer and tapped me to come on board for blogging and social media.
What does your role entail?
I'm here to tell stories, mostly. I'm a central point for content production on the various materials we use to educate people about Beautiful Day. This mostly means a lot of emails between Joanne and I, communication with Jon about tweets and retweets and, lastly, helping fellow members of the Core Team understand how Facebook and Twitter work.
Tell us what it's like being a part of the Core Team.
It's awesome. I am incredibly grateful to have been invited to join them, they're like a second Life Group for me. The dynamic is fantastic in meetings, we have fun and get stuff accomplished. It's miraculous how tight we've become in such a short time. I thank God for them every day.
Going forward, what would you like to see happen in our community as a result of Beautiful Day?
The unique appeal of Beautiful Day, what drew me in, is its all-encompassing nature. People and organizations from varied backgrounds take part: we have government agencies, local companies and faith communities pooling people and resources for the betterment of San Jose. Christ's message -- and the change it has created -- exemplifies how radical inclusiveness can shift paradigms in cultures of all kinds. The mission, the aggressive compassion we take to the streets, is infectious.
This is the future I see:
City leaders collaborate extensively with community leaders. High schoolers work alongside old schoolers. Large corporations become as involved as small businesses. Silicon Valley invests in itself and improves exponentially -- not just for a weekend or a month or a year, but decades. People notice. Events happen all over the country and projects go on without ceasing. It turns into a lifestyle, a way for handfuls of committed people to be the catalyst for positive outcomes in others' lives and then, suddenly, every day is a Beautiful Day.
Jason Eichacker writes for Beautiful Day and is the proud uncle of two beautiful nieces. He moved to California from Kansas eight months ago, walked into his home church the following Sunday and has since become quite happy to have Winter without snow. He loves music, reads all the time and craves the smell of ocean air. For his habit of running to the location of Core Team meetings, he has been dubbed the Duke of Gump.
Four Questions with...Marissa Moran
How did you get connected with Beautiful Day?I had been at Westgate about 6 months or so in 2009, and after completing Explore/Discovery I was given the opportunity to express a specific area of interest I'd like to volunteer in. I checked "compassion ministry" and then followed up with an email. Shortly after that I found myself meeting with Jon Talbert and Joanne Glen about coming on board as the Volunteer Coordinator for the Community at Large projects! Two-and-a-half years later, I'm still here.
What does your role entail?
I make sure Westgate peeps get hooked up with volunteering for the projects they want and fit their skill set and that our Project Manager's have enough volunteers to fulfill their project's needs! This entails lots and lots of communication and emailing, as well as spreadsheet/data reviewing!
Tell us what it's like being a part of the Core Team.
It feels like a family! We genuinely enjoy our weekly gatherings, to not only discuss the ups and downs of the week, and whats going on in our lives, but to be encouraging and uplifting and to share a common purpose. It's pretty awesome to be part of a weekly like-minded group of people, who just want to serve Jesus by serving others. We all have our individual strengths we bring to the table and seeing how we all work together -- and how we mesh and just genuinely enjoy each other's company -- is pretty cool.
Going forward, what you like to see happen in our community as a result of Beautiful Day?
More and more people coming to know Christ because of the love and compassion that they experienced and/or witnessed. I would love to see compassion and service become even more infectious in our city, with people helping people and making real long-term connections with those they see in need.
Marissa Moran is the Volunteer Coordinator for Beautiful Day. Originally from North Little Rock, Arkansas, she is a fan of '80s movies like The Goonies and Sixteen Candles. She's also jealous Wendy Laugesen has New Kids on the Block tickets.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Four Questions with...Joanne Glen
How did you get connected with Beautiful Day?My second time to WestGate in the bulletin I read about my dream job. Working as an assistant in the Compassion department here at WestGate. I've always have had a heart to get people to go out and volunteer, whether locally or overseas.
My second week on the job in 2007 was my first Beautiful Day experience. I sat back and watched as I saw WestGate invade the community around them with Christ's Love. At that point I knew I was in the right place.
What does your role entail?
A bit of everything. My role is to work alongside Jon Talbert, keep an overview of everything and know the details of everything to connect the pieces that need to be connected.
Tell us what it's like being a part of the Core Team.
Since joining Beautiful Day, being part of the Core Team has always been a highlight of mine each year with each team. Our Core Teams meet for nearly 10 months of the year, so we get to know each other pretty well.
Going forward, what you like to see happen in our community as a result of Beautiful Day?
I'd love to see WestGate people going out throughout the year and/or connecting with one of our projects and continuing to serve there.
Joanne Glen is the Compassion Assistant to Jon Talbert at WestGate Church. Though a native of Half Moon Bay, California, she has lived "in a treehouse in Latvia, a castle in Germany and on a ship in England." She is currently fixated on the music of Mumford and Sons (which, to be fair, is awesome) and is a baroness of the von Glen line from Scotland.
Share Beautiful Day with Your Friends!
Much has been made in recent months of the role social media has played in the spread of information. In a matter of seconds, news about the latest natural disaster or civilian uprising reaches every corner of the globe. It's easy to see we live in a TGiF world: Twitter, Google, iPhone and Facebook are a major part of our culture.
This is especially true at WestGate Church, where employees from many of Silicon Valley's biggest companies attend every week and it's time to put that tech savvy to use.
The idea of turning "church service" into an outward expression of love for our community is gaining momentum and you can help it pick up speed! Help spread the Beautiful Day compassion revolution as you participate -- before, during and after.
Here's what to do:
Facebook
Log in and "Like" Beautiful Day, then tag it in mobile photos and post updates on the wall while you're working. At the end of the day, take a minute to talk about what you did in a status update and include Beautiful Day (at your computer, begin typing @Beautiful Day and a list will appear).
Twitter
Follow the @Beautiful_Day account and those of leadership team members @JonTalbert, @JasonEichacker and @WendyLCMP, then tweet your story and retweet others as often as you like.
To simplify the process, use one or more of the hash tags below so others can find you, 140 characters at a time. (Remember to include them if you use a picture uploader like TwitPic or Instagram, too!)
#AwakenAlviso
#BuchserBeauty
#CampCoyote
#CleanMile
#LifeSupport
#ReInnVision
#RoomRefresh
#SuperDance
#CelebrateBD
#SanJose
An example might look like this: "I'm so excited to see how Patty likes her #RoomRefresh from @Beautiful_Day #SanJose!" or "Became a member of the 5 gallon club during #LifeSupport for @Beautiful_Day #SanJose! (Not all at once.)"
This is especially true at WestGate Church, where employees from many of Silicon Valley's biggest companies attend every week and it's time to put that tech savvy to use.
The idea of turning "church service" into an outward expression of love for our community is gaining momentum and you can help it pick up speed! Help spread the Beautiful Day compassion revolution as you participate -- before, during and after.
Here's what to do:
Log in and "Like" Beautiful Day, then tag it in mobile photos and post updates on the wall while you're working. At the end of the day, take a minute to talk about what you did in a status update and include Beautiful Day (at your computer, begin typing @Beautiful Day and a list will appear).
Follow the @Beautiful_Day account and those of leadership team members @JonTalbert, @JasonEichacker and @WendyLCMP, then tweet your story and retweet others as often as you like.
To simplify the process, use one or more of the hash tags below so others can find you, 140 characters at a time. (Remember to include them if you use a picture uploader like TwitPic or Instagram, too!)
#AwakenAlviso
#BuchserBeauty
#CampCoyote
#CleanMile
#LifeSupport
#ReInnVision
#RoomRefresh
#SuperDance
#CelebrateBD
#SanJose
An example might look like this: "I'm so excited to see how Patty likes her #RoomRefresh from @Beautiful_Day #SanJose!" or "Became a member of the 5 gallon club during #LifeSupport for @Beautiful_Day #SanJose! (Not all at once.)"
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Four Question with...Ken Watkins
How were you convinced to join Beautiful Day?Jon Talbert called me up and said, "Here, eat this apple. You'll like it."
What projects do you oversee?
I'm the Project Director for Camp Coyote (the homeless outreach project), Beautify Buchser (the school clean-up/beautification project) and Life Support (the blood drive). The key is getting great project managers and then staying out of their way.
I've been really fortunate to work with Kim Sherwood and Drew Frosee on Camp Coyote, Phil McCarthy on Beautify Buchser and Julie Simonin and Cris Otonari on Life Support. I do what I can to help them get organized, bring the right people with the right skills together, voice needs, concerns and anything else that needs to be addressed with the Beautiful Day project team, but mostly just act as a dedicated focal point to which they can come for help on their projects.
Talk about being part of the Core Team.
Being on the Core Team has been one big, long lesson in faith. I work in the corporate world, where everything revolves around budgets, timelines, deliverables, etc. Beautiful Day has taught me, more than anything else in recent memory, to trust in God for our needs. It's also made me realize that His will (in this case His vision of Beautiful Day) might just be different from my vision of Beautiful Day. I kept saying "Listen God . . .", and he kept saying, "No, you listen . . ."
I couldn't have asked for a better Core Team with which to have worked on Beautiful Day, their dedication has been inspiring and humbling.
What do you hope the effects of Beautiful Day are?
I've already witnessed how other churches throughout the community are realizing what a great example of loving God and loving our neighbors Beautiful Day can be. It would be great to see this spirit of "servanthood" continue to be core to the identity of Westgate, as well as every group believers in the South Bay and beyond.
When he's not thinking of new and inventive ways to make his wife Monica roll her eyes and shake her head, Ken Watkins spends most of his time working for the man (IBM) when he'd rather be riding his bike...or eating. "I can (and do) eat as much as people twice my size," he boasts. His favorite movie is Raiders of the Lost Ark and he used to enjoy the music of Jimmy Buffett, "but I've sung 'Margaritaville' one too many times."
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