On July 22nd from 9-12 a.m., the Almaden Valley-Willow Glen Rotary Club joined forces with volunteers from FCSN to complete the first phase of the FCSN South Bay Center cleanup project. Friends Coffee and Tea brought refreshments, and the volunteers a cheerful, can-do attitude; the morning of smiles, sweat, and service resulted in a makeover to beautify both FCSN’s clients’ and Friends Coffee and Tea customers’ experiences at the South Bay site.

Headed by the Almaden Valley-Willow Glen Rotary Club President Ken Tavernier and Board of Directors member Bob Carlson, a group of 35 volunteers began their weekend with a shovel, paintbrush, or rake in hand. Not only were FCSN families and staff present, but also FCSN’s clients with special needs. The day’s first task was to excavate desiccated plants in the front lot. Prior to the cleanup, caring for the gardens had been a challenge; on top of the facility’s lack of a sprinkler system, the management could not hire a gardener due to many clients’ noise sensitivity. The pandemic also created additional challenges in upkeep — various shrubbery, markedly several yucca plants, had grown thick, tough, and unruly in their planters. Yet, by hacking away with determination, the volunteers successfully uprooted all the bushes, which filled 12 burlap sacks.

After extracting the dead plants and completing the largest task for the day, the group split into teams to tackle various other duties: repainting the building’s front ledger and planters, trimming trees and raking leaves in the anterior parking lot, weeding the pavement, and spraying weed-killer on cracks. 

A long history of joint community service between Almaden Valley-Willow Glen Rotary and FCSN germinated the vision for the South Bay Center cleanup. The two organizations first connected when Carlson and the Executive Director of FCSN, Sylvia Yeh, began a park maintenance program for FCSN clients. For the past seven years, every Tuesday and Thursday morning, Carlson and Tavernier have guided a group of ten to twelve FCSN clients, two FCSN staff, and a city worker in servicing Campbell parks. “We’ve contributed close to 6,000 hours to the City of Campbell by doing this. As far as I know, it’s the only program like this in the United States that uses special needs clients to work with a municipal entity like the city or county,” Carlson said. 

Meeting up with clients at the FCSN South Bay center each week, Carlson and Tavernier noticed that the FCSN base was in need of the same love and care that their program’s parks received. They then organized the first South Bay cleanup in 2019. However, the pandemic brought the intended yearly efforts to a standstill until the Rotary leaders decided to organize another cleanup in preparation for a barbeque that they will host for FCSN on August 11th at the South Bay Center. Although the lunch’s location later changed to elsewhere, Tavernier and Carlson’s hardworking nature and deep care for the FCSN community compelled them to proceed with the cleanup. Additionally, out of gratitude to FCSN and the Rotary Club’s service, the city of Campbell provided a truck and the equipment necessary for the effort.

Although COVID-19 had shrunk the Rotary’s forces, Carlson and Tavernier’s experience, as well as the enthusiasm of the volunteers present, made the big day incredibly impactful and straightforward. “Before COVID, we could get 150 to 200 people, [but now] we’ve scaled back on our major projects to where we only need 25 or 30 people. It’s not a challenge, because over the years we’ve probably done 250 of these [cleanups],” Carlson said. 

FCSN South Bay Program Director Vivian Chung, who recruited helpers from the FCSN community, agreed on the ease of organizing the transformation. “My favorite part of today has been seeing the energy everyone has. On a Saturday morning, usually you’re still sleeping, but when you get here, everybody is smiling and ready, [asking], ‘How can I help? What should I do now? What’s next?’ There’s a lot of people helping, so everything goes very smoothly. The only difficult part was deciding what to do with the plants. Should we keep it? Or move it? Or remove it?”

Many of the volunteers, not only those from FCSN, had personal relationships to the special needs community that generated their drive and willingness at the cleanup. Tavernier’s involvement with FCSN is close to his heart, as he has a sister with special needs. Bel Haba, the father of an FCSN client, also found the cleanup personally significant. “This is where I come every day, where I bring my son, so it’s great to make it look nice (…) I think when the center looks cleaner, it will inspire people and make them feel good. In the morning, when you come, there will be flowers and bushes and trees. It will look like a nice and appealing place, rather than a place that we see as a parking lot only to drop our children,” said Haba. 

In addition to creating a more inspiring environment for FCSN clients, the volunteers also hoped that the cleanup would bring more business to Friends Coffee and Tea. Manager of Friends Coffee and Tea Roxanna Chiu, who rewarded the volunteers with a delicious array of sandwiches and drinks, reflected upon the importance of properly representing the shop. “We would like the site to look very welcoming and pretty, just like our coffee shop looks cute [inside]. Hopefully, when the outside looks pretty, more customers will know about us and come here to support us. The coffee shop is a bridge for [the special needs population] to the larger community. They can come in and see what we can do. Our coffee shop can send this message to the outside world,” Chiu said.  

By noon, the volunteers had concluded phase one of the cleanup. The South Bay Center was ready for future beautification: new greenery and flowers, a mural, and a fresh paint job of the entire building. “There’s a lot of people that will leave here and be tired, but they’re going to feel good about themselves, and that’s cool,” said Tavernier. His words could not have been more true; the day ended with the South Bay center brighter, and the volunteers’ hearts lighter.