Getting Huge and BBQ's

Ben Gur

Riekes Center

Gary Riekes

650-364-2509

Before I got to the Riekes Center, I thought that it would be a small, shanty gym with a few old, out dated exercise machines and athletic equipment. Any facility claiming to provide professional, specialized training for all art and athletic interests for a more than affordable price couldn't be that impressive.

But I was so super wrong.

The facility is more than impressive, with an indoor track, full powerlifting platforms, an outfitted strength training room, next door archery range, kitchen, rap, art and photography studios, performance stage, batting cage, and backyard brick pizza oven. On top of that, there were strength trainers, nutritionists, sport coaches, art teachers, and a number of other utilizable professionals.

It was eye opening, that so much could be offered to this local community, one with so many people unable to build on their goals because of how unaffordable the tools of reaching them are, through a non-profit gym half-staffed by high schoolers.

During the three weeks I worker at the center I oversaw the veterans' archery class, coached young athletes in strength training, ran general maintenance of the facility as a whole, and took a "break" during lunch to fire up the grill and be the master chef for the daily open summertime bbq's the center hosted.

I didn't learn much from the cooking and the mopping, menial labor was nothing new. But I did learn a lot about being a coach, how to keep your athlete safe while maximizing progress, and what it means to be a professional teacher.

Overall it was such a gnarly time being at the Riekes Center, and I really appreciate how real they had managed to create a working, sustainable model of what seemed like a wishful idea to me before.

Pact visit #2

I volunteered at St. Anthony's Padua Dining Room for the third time on Tuesday, September 19th. This time, I helped serve the food to the incoming clients. What really struck me this time was my interactions with the clients, who were all so kind and appreciative to the volunteers while making their way through the line. I was inspired by the clients' uplifting attitudes and how they would make jokes to the volunteers despite their personal struggles. Vida and I helped replace the trays with the food and then spent from 11-1 pm serving the customers. The smiles on the client's faces as we served them truly reminded me that food is not a given for everyone in our society. This experience made me so much more appreciative for my mom who cooks for my family every day.

Serving at the kitchen, I was also amazed by the dedication of the other volunteers, who, though not financially compensated, sacrificed their Saturdays to serve the homeless. Despite having only gone 6 times, these visits motivated me to make time for volunteer work outside of PACT.

6th Visit to There With Care

Grace Young

There With Care

Dates: 8/27/17,  9/8/17, 9/20/17

Working with There With Care has continued to be an extremely rewarding experience. On my fourth visit, we went shopping for toys and games for the sibling program. Having a sibling that is critically ill can be a traumatizing experience. There With Care looks to alleviate stress for these siblings (especially those that are very young) by providing toys, arts and crafts, books, and other gifts which can be used while waiting in the hospital. On my fifth visit, we delivered diapers and wipes to a family in the Ronald McDonald House. I enjoyed the delivery because I knew that I was directly helping a family in need, so on my final visit, I wanted to do another delivery. We organized toiletry supplies and delivered them to another family. The toiletry kit included multiple kinds of soap, shampoo, deodorant, mouthwash, toothpaste, and toothbrushes for each member of the family. If a family must unexpectedly stay in a hospital for a long period of time, they might not have brought necessary supplies that we ordinarily take for granted. This visit was also especially meaningful because I got to see some of the children firsthand, who were playing with sheep and a pony in a petting zoo outside. Normally, the organization does not allow volunteers to meet with families unless it is to provide a professional service, such as counselling. However, on the day of our final delivery, I was able to see some of the families, I was extremely surprised by my emotional reaction when this occurred. It was heartbreaking to see kids in such terrible situations still be running around with the animals. I hope to volunteer with There With Care again so that I may continue to help these families, and because I have gained so much from working with this organization.

PACT visit #1

I volunteered at St. Anthony's Padua Dining Room for the third time for PACT on Saturday, September 2nd. After having been to St. Anthony's once in English class sophomore, I was excited to go back and help in a familiar environment. St. Anthony's serves high quality meals free of charge to all those hungry who come to the dining room. Me and Vida initially began by doing some back-end work recycling boxes and storing equipment in the garages. We then helped the cooks in the kitchen do prep work before the dining room opened its doors to the public. I was amazed by the care each volunteer put in preparing the meals and the quality of work and hygiene in the kitchen. I watched as we peeled potatoes, cooked them, and put them in a frittata to be directly served to the hungry.

After having volunteered at St. Anthony's, I don't think I will ever waste food again. Watching so much care be put into preparation of meals for dozens of men, women, or just families who rely on the kitchen for daily sustenance has taught me that I have no right to take any food for granted. I really enjoyed preparing meals and helping the other volunteers create a welcoming and hospitable environment.

Julia's 6th Visit to BGCP

After my sixth visit, I can definitely say that I’m attached to the kids in my dance class at the Boys and Girls Club of the Peninsula. The kids I teach at the East Palo Alto location were not super receptive to learning about dance at first. But, as my visits went on, I noticed that they became much more open. They grew a lot more comfortable with me (I am now greeted with big hugs and smiles when I walk onto the patio) and I definitely grew super attached to them. As the kids became more comfortable with me, they also became more open to learning the simple dance moves that I taught them. It’s really cool to see how open and excited the kids are to dance. Even the kids who weren’t necessarily the most excited initially, are now genuinely much more excited when I teach a new dance or when I let them choreograph their own little dance. They get super excited when I let them pick the songs we dance to which is really fun to see. A lot of these kids are actually very naturally talented dancers -- more talented than me when I first started. It just makes me realize how fortunate I was to have a parents that were able to support my endeavors in dance because not everyone is lucky enough to be able to pursue an interest in the arts. I’m grateful for the connections that I have made with the kids, and I’m really excited to continue working with the kids at the Boys and Girls Club beyond my PACT project.

Julia's 3rd Visit to BGCP

By my third visit to the Boys & Girls Club of the Peninsula, I had already gotten a sense of how the program worked and what I needed to do to help out. I’ve been assisting or teaching dance classes at my dance studio since I was about 10, so I thought that this would be an easy endeavor. However, teaching dance classes at the Boys and Girls Club has proven to not be the same as my previous experiences. When I’m teaching dance at my studio, the kids all want to be in class and are ready to listen to me; they’ve already learned the basics of dance from teachers before me. At the Boys and Girls Club, the kids haven’t ever had the opportunity to gain the same foundation, so for the first couple of visits, I didn’t really know what to do. I had to shift my expectations and shift the way I taught. I didn’t realize that simple details (like what music I played) made a difference in how receptive the kids were to learn. A lot of the kids in my dance class don’t necessarily want to be there; they have to take an elective and dance seemed like the least of all evils (I teach class on the concrete outdoors...). So, finding ways to make sure they don’t resent dance, but still making sure that they participate is pretty difficult. But, I’m enjoying the learning experience (and being able to stretch my creative educational thinking skills!) and am excited to build more connections with the kids!

6 Visit Entry

Jason Li
August 3rd 9am-12pm, 17th 1pm-4pm; September 16th 9am-12pm
Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy
3rd- Jose, 17th- Tanya and Nick, 16th- Mike and Alex
3rd- don't have, 17th- don't have, 16th- don't have

For my last three visits with the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, I participated some maintenance work around the Presidio, some gardening in the trails near the Golden Gate Bridge, and habitat restoration on Baker's Bluff. For the maintenance work, we were out on Ocean Beach digging out and repainting irrigation boxes. Although there wasn't much of an ecology aspect to that visit, I still enjoyed myself being outdoors on the beach front, and learned a bit about the area from talking with the people who worked there. As for my fifth visit, we were planting Seaside Daisies and California Aster on the trails around the Golden Gate Bridge. During the work, I learned a lot about the plants we were planting, and the effect they were going to have on the area. It also happened to be a presentation day for some of the interns there, so along with learning about the plants, I also got to learn a lot about the history of the area we were in, and the Presidio in general. Finally, for my last visit, I was picking cape ivy from the Willows around Baker's Bluff. This experience was especially rewarding because since we were working right at one of the entrances to the beach, lots of people walking by saw our work, and kept thanking us and applauding us for doing a good job. Going into the visit, I just saw the experience as one where I can help the earth and ecosystem, but for the people who live nearby, we were cleaning up a part of their neighborhood and they really showed their appreciation for that.

First 3 Visit Entry

Jason Li
June 17th 10am-12pm, 27th 10am-2:30pm, 29th 9am-12pm
Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy
17th- no supervisor, 27th- Sydney and Rachel, 29th- Jason
17th- N/A, 27th- don't have, 29th- jlisenby@presidiotrust.gov

For my first three visits with the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, I participated in a beach clean-up at Ocean Beach, habitat restoration at Tennessee Beach in the Marin Headlands, and a maintenance project in the Presidio. Before working with this conservancy, I already had a pretty good idea of the types of conservation activities I would be doing since they are very common. Going into this PACT project, I understood that it was important to keep our environment/ecosystems clean, but didn’t fully understand how my actions were directly helping the cause. After these three visits, I feel that I have a much better understanding about why we do the beach clean-ups and habitat restorations, and the larger goal that all these small actions are leading towards.

Through the few visits so far, I think that my interest and passion in helping make the world a cleaner place has been furthered, and become more real for me. Taking the maintenance project in the Presidio for example, our job was to help remove all the weeds and invasive plants from an area. The entire process was very rewarding because along with knowing that we are making a change in the world, there was also the immediate satisfaction of seeing the huge difference there was before and after we finished working. Although these three visits aren’t my first conservation activities, I felt that I cared a lot more because I chose and wanted to do this, and got a better understanding of the gravity of those events.