Campus & community, Campus news

Going out, doing good: Berkeley Project Day 2014 in photos

Berkeley Project Day 2014 sent more than 1,400 UC Berkeley students out into the community to get things done: rehabbing homes for people in need, cleaning up streets and parks, sprucing up childcare centers, just to name a few. The annual community-service day is entirely student-run.

By Carol Ness

project day

November 14, 2014

Berkeley Project Day 2014 sent more than 1,400 UC Berkeley students out into the community on a recent Saturday to get things done: rehabbing homes for people in need, cleaning up streets and parks, sprucing up child-care centers, just to name a few.

The day started before sun-up, with meticulous preparations on Sproul Plaza. Students gathered and signed up as the sun rose, for bagels and bananas, music from the Cal Band and the California Golden Overtones, speeches by Project Day leaders, the dean of students and a city official. Then the crowd fanned out to 70 community service projects in Berkeley and Oakland.

The annual student-run project, which started in 2006, aims to unite the campus around work that has a positive impact on the community each fall. In the spring, Berkeley Project Month sends more students out into the community on consecutive weekends.

Here are Kevin Ho Nguyen’s photos from just a few of this fall’s Project Day, as it looked on Sproul and at a handful of project sites.

Carrying the flag for public service.
Volunteers, in turn, were treated to a spectacular view of Berkeley and beyond.
Indian Rock Park got a makeover, too.
Break time amid the paint cans.
Jumpsuits protected volunteers painting bedrooms, bathrooms and hallways as part of Rebuilding Together, a nonprofit that fixes up homes for low-income residents.
At the Ohlone community garden, a pathway was rebuilt for better accessibility, and many weeds were hauled away.
A curb and a box lunch were welcome after a long morning of work.
Adeline neighbors joined the student volunteers.
Flower planters along Adeline Street were weeded and perked up. The sidewalks also were cleaned.
... and painted.
At St. John's preschool, project volunteers organized items for storage, cleaned drains, swept leaves and sand and painted...
Project teams built up steam before heading out to work.
The California Golden Overtones serenaded the gathering crowd.
At tables, volunteers received their project assignments and materials.
A long line greeted even early risers arriving at Sproul.
Some 1,400 students gathered in the growing light, all in their Project Day t-shirts.
The sun was barely up but preparations were well underway on Sproul Plaza. (UC Berkeley photos by Kevin Ho Nguyen)