Last week’s Argus was pretty heavy with “news” about our troubles and woes in Petaluma–The Target Dispute, Petaluma’s streets officially declared to be at risk, and so on.   By way of a brief respite, I offer this Petaluma story about the recent Martin Luther King Day at Valley Vista School.

Background

MLK Day is more than another Monday Holiday. It is also a day when people throughout the country join together to work on various service projects in their community…

Everyone knows this…right?

Well I, for one, did not.

Furthermore, my ignorance would have continued but for a request from Jane Hamilton of Rebuilding Together Petaluma (RTP)  to take some photos at the Martin Luther King Jr. “Day of Service” project at Valley Vista Child Care in Petaluma. 

I later learned that the Valley Vista project was one of many throughout the nation. For example, in the Greater Philadelphia Area, 70,000 people turned out to work on 1,100 community projects. (Link)

But I digress!

Valley Vista

On the rainy morning of January 18, I arrived at Valley Vista to find 30 volunteers. They were primarily employees, including friends and family members, from Kaiser Permanente facilities in Santa Rosa, San Rafael & Petaluma.

Their presence was due to the efforts of Carol Harris, Kaiser’s Community and Government Relations Manager (Sonoma/Marin) and Jane Hamilton of RTP. 

Kaiser and RTP have a history of working together in the planning and execution of  MLK Day projects with Kaiser providing grants and employee volunteers to work with RTP. And so it was again this year.

During the course of the day, they fixed  bicycles, scooters, computers, and skates.  In addition, one crew worked on painting a room–washing the walls before applying a prime coat and the finish coat. Another group worked on general cleaning which included, believe it or not, sorting through and organizing the Barbie accessories.

NOTE

• Rebuilding Together Petaluma posted a link to a full set of photos from the Valley Vista workday.  To view, CLICK>>HERE
• Also see the Article in the Press Democrat.