The Berkeley Project II, Saturday November 5th – Cal Students Did It Again!!!!
The Berkeley Project II, Saturday November 5th – Cal Students Did It Again!!!!
The Berkeley Project is a group of students with the mission of helping to bridge the gap between students and the community, and to foster a spirit of service. Today was a particularly special day in that this was one of their large-scale events that includes over 1,000 students and community members throughout our neighborhood.
On a misty, grey Saturday morning on November 5th, Vicki & Dan were honored to once again welcome 30 student volunteers from The Berkeley Project at the Firestorm Memorial Garden to finish up mulching to get ready for Winter. The volunteer Cal students took the bus to a local meeting spot where we picked several of them up and shuttled them over to the Firestorm Memorial Garden. This is the 2nd Berkeley Project volunteer day this Fall, and our 2nd and final Memorial Garden mulching event of the season.
Emily and Oliver from The Berkeley Project organized the teams and helped guide the effort from beginning to end. After drying off, listening to a quick history of the gardens and reviewing their objective for the day, the volunteers were provided with all the necessary tools (e.g., vests, gloves, buckets, tarps, shovels, wheel barrels, rakes, brooms, etc.) to be able to successfully complete their SOLO objective, which was to . . .
Take one really HUGE pile of Big Chief Tree mulch and finish spreading it throughout the Firestorm Memorial Garden. Spreading mulch in the garden will help with water retention, minimize weed growth and add nutrients to the soil.
OMG!!! Not only did the students meet their goal, but they finished up in record speed just in time to enjoy the lunch that The Berkeley Project sponsors provided. The Firestorm Memorial Garden is now ready for Winter.The Berkeley Project volunteers are very hard workers, and we love working with you!
After lunch, group photos and High 5’s, we again shuttled many of the Cal students back to the campus and/or to a central spot near their dorms.
What a great way to end the day and to finish up our Firestorm Memorial and Gateway Garden & Pavilion 2022 garden season! We started in the Spring and are ending in the Fall, with both gardens trimmed, mulched and ready to organically rejuvenate over the Winter months. Thank you to The Berkeley Project team for your efforts, enthusiasm and your support of our gardens, and we hope to see you back in the Spring of ’23! This group is a big reason for the garden’s dramatic transformation!
Vicki Oliveira & Dan Conolly
NHCA Garden Committee Co-Chairs
