So I think I found the job I want to do after Americorps; building playgrounds across the United States. We worked with a non profit organization called KaBOOM to help build a playground at an elementary school in down town New Orleans. KaBOOM is all about building “playplaces” (playgrounds, skate parks, ice rinks, and sports fields) so that every child in the US has a safe place to go and be a kid. So long story short we teamed up with other Americorps members, a group of college kids from Florida and other local volunteers to build a playground in one day. When I say playground I don’t mean a little swing set and some monkey bars. The playground we built had 6 slides, bridges, climbing walls, swings, a basketball game, monkey bars, and more. It only took 8 hours including a lunch break to build the entire playground. We were split up into smaller groups from 5 people to about 50. The biggest group was in charge off moving this huge mound of mulch and spreading it around the playground. My group put together the swing set, a couple stair cases and the fireman’s pole. We finished those within an hour and some change so I helped other groups and the main guys put everything together. I worked with Adam (the head guy from KaBOOM) and Harold (one of the guys from PA) so I got to do a lot of the fun stuff like drilling and putting all the slides onto the platforms. We also worked on the rock climbing wall which for one reason or another we could not get assembled. The wholes on the wall and the wholes in the support poles did not line up. With a little work and a lot of “manhandeling” we finally got it up. Other than the rock climbing wall everything else went very smoothly and we were able to cut the ribbon around 3 o’clock as planned. I was pretty amazed that we could assemble equipment, build the playground, haul the mulch (safety surfacing), mix and pour concrete and cut the ribbon all within one day but we got it done. Home Depot supplied a lot of the hard wear and tools and another nonprofit group, Partners in Play, from PA donated the actual playground equipment itself. Our group plans to do more KaBOOM playgrounds in January if we are still in the area. KaBOOM has promised to build 100 playgrounds in the gulf coast area. This was numbed 79!
For more information go to www.kaboom.org
Sunday, December 16, 2007
December 3rd: First Day of Work… Good Food. Doing Good.
I keep forgetting to update this so some of these posts are going to be really late and out of order. But thanks for reading and putting up with me.
Afternoon Cooking Team (12-7ish): Me, Geoff, Dan, Bonnie, Rachel and Jess
Morning Cooking Team (4-12): Tanya, Caitlin, Cassandra, James and Erin
Today was our first day and hopefully the most hectic day we will ever have. We were lucky enough to have about a dozen chefs from around the U.S. (mostly east coast) come down and help cook with us and teach us some tips around the kitchen. The chefs were in a group called culinary corps which combines food-centered volunteer projects with culinary educational activities. They provide team members and volunteers with an opportunity to transform their kitchen skills and passion for food into community outreach tools. When they first arrived they said their main goal for us was to provide a couple of simple classes and quick lectures that will teach us about the three S’s; Safety, Sanitation, and Storage. After about an hour of some talking we started with food prep. We had one of our most intense menus of the year. We served:
Tropical Barbeque Chicken
Fried Oysters with Garlic and Lemon Aioli
Oyster Rockefeller
Minestrone Soup (Vegan)
Sicilian Broccoli Salad (Vegan)
Spicy Succotash (Vegan)
Rosemary Roasted Potatoes & Corn (Vegan)
Hip Hop Tofu (Vegan)
Rock & Roll Pear Trifle (Vegan)
Cheesy Pasta with Caramelized Onions (Vegetarian)
Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Icing (Vegetarian)
We started prepping food around 1 o’clock and planned on serving at 5:30. Some kids from the morning shift came back and we had a couple Denver Americorps kids help out too. We split into four different groups; Starches, Veggies, Pastries, and Protein / Soups. I started working with the Proteins and Soups. We defrosted about 150 pieces of chicken and mixed up some dry spices to marinate the chicken in. One of the other chefs had also made a barbeque sauce that we were going to put all over the chicken right before serving. He added so many different ingredients but it was honestly the best tasting BBQ sauce I have ever tried. Since there was a bunch of us in the kitchen I also got the opportunity to go around to the other groups and talk to some of the chefs and pick up some pointers on preparing and keeping foods at different temperatures. Everyone had their own little secrets which they were all willing to share with me.
We were perfectly on the clock and opened doors at 5:30 on the dot. We were originally expecting a little over 200 people but were then told it was going to be around 300. Luckily it was only 260 or so people so we didn’t run out of any food. The chefs all knew to make a little more and have a back up plan. Sadly everyone had to choose only one type of oyster, but in the end it was good because I was able to have the left overs! Chef Frank (our Camp Hope head chef) brought all of the chefs and green two out to get our props and everyone loved our food. We had numerous people come up and say thank you and that they were excited to see what else we can come up with. Hopefully we can make some more good dishes even if they aren’t as exquisite as tonight’s.
The end of the night was also a little extreme. We normally won’t be cooking so many different dishes so we won’t have as much to clean but it also didn’t help that the main dishwasher / steamer died on us and then ran out of cleaner after we got it fixed. We had to do all the dishes by hand and it took forever. We ran out of dry towels and normal soap so we had to use hand soap and chlorine to disinfect some stuff that we will be able to properly wash tomorrow. As much as it stunk to wash dishes it gave me some time to talk to some of the chefs and hear about their backgrounds and what brought them here and where they are working back at home. I had a lot of fun and hopefully I will be able to use some of the tricks and recipes I learned. We also are trying to get other chefs to come in and help out every now and then so we can learn more.
Here is the culinary corps web site: http://culinarycorps.org/
Afternoon Cooking Team (12-7ish): Me, Geoff, Dan, Bonnie, Rachel and Jess
Morning Cooking Team (4-12): Tanya, Caitlin, Cassandra, James and Erin
Today was our first day and hopefully the most hectic day we will ever have. We were lucky enough to have about a dozen chefs from around the U.S. (mostly east coast) come down and help cook with us and teach us some tips around the kitchen. The chefs were in a group called culinary corps which combines food-centered volunteer projects with culinary educational activities. They provide team members and volunteers with an opportunity to transform their kitchen skills and passion for food into community outreach tools. When they first arrived they said their main goal for us was to provide a couple of simple classes and quick lectures that will teach us about the three S’s; Safety, Sanitation, and Storage. After about an hour of some talking we started with food prep. We had one of our most intense menus of the year. We served:
Tropical Barbeque Chicken
Fried Oysters with Garlic and Lemon Aioli
Oyster Rockefeller
Minestrone Soup (Vegan)
Sicilian Broccoli Salad (Vegan)
Spicy Succotash (Vegan)
Rosemary Roasted Potatoes & Corn (Vegan)
Hip Hop Tofu (Vegan)
Rock & Roll Pear Trifle (Vegan)
Cheesy Pasta with Caramelized Onions (Vegetarian)
Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Icing (Vegetarian)
We started prepping food around 1 o’clock and planned on serving at 5:30. Some kids from the morning shift came back and we had a couple Denver Americorps kids help out too. We split into four different groups; Starches, Veggies, Pastries, and Protein / Soups. I started working with the Proteins and Soups. We defrosted about 150 pieces of chicken and mixed up some dry spices to marinate the chicken in. One of the other chefs had also made a barbeque sauce that we were going to put all over the chicken right before serving. He added so many different ingredients but it was honestly the best tasting BBQ sauce I have ever tried. Since there was a bunch of us in the kitchen I also got the opportunity to go around to the other groups and talk to some of the chefs and pick up some pointers on preparing and keeping foods at different temperatures. Everyone had their own little secrets which they were all willing to share with me.
We were perfectly on the clock and opened doors at 5:30 on the dot. We were originally expecting a little over 200 people but were then told it was going to be around 300. Luckily it was only 260 or so people so we didn’t run out of any food. The chefs all knew to make a little more and have a back up plan. Sadly everyone had to choose only one type of oyster, but in the end it was good because I was able to have the left overs! Chef Frank (our Camp Hope head chef) brought all of the chefs and green two out to get our props and everyone loved our food. We had numerous people come up and say thank you and that they were excited to see what else we can come up with. Hopefully we can make some more good dishes even if they aren’t as exquisite as tonight’s.
The end of the night was also a little extreme. We normally won’t be cooking so many different dishes so we won’t have as much to clean but it also didn’t help that the main dishwasher / steamer died on us and then ran out of cleaner after we got it fixed. We had to do all the dishes by hand and it took forever. We ran out of dry towels and normal soap so we had to use hand soap and chlorine to disinfect some stuff that we will be able to properly wash tomorrow. As much as it stunk to wash dishes it gave me some time to talk to some of the chefs and hear about their backgrounds and what brought them here and where they are working back at home. I had a lot of fun and hopefully I will be able to use some of the tricks and recipes I learned. We also are trying to get other chefs to come in and help out every now and then so we can learn more.
Here is the culinary corps web site: http://culinarycorps.org/
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Camp Mendocino
Once again this is a little late but I'm finally getting it posted. Sorry guys. The following happened between the days of Friday November 16th and Sunday November 18th...
The entire Green Squad traveled to Camp Mendocino which is about four hours away from Sacramento and is deep in the redwoods forest. The ride there was a little bit of a challenge for me because I’m not the best person in a car, and we drove down an old dirt road down the side of a mountain that twisted back and forth. When we finally arrived at camp we had to find our bags that were all mixed together. Everyone was issued either a green or red bag that we had to fit everything into, so everyone’s bag looked exactly the same. We finally got our bags and headed to our cabin. The guy’s cabin was on one side of the camp and girls on the other. The cabins were alright but not the best for the cold weather that we had. It was an open cabin which meant there were no windows and no door, only a sheet of plastic to hang over. The bathrooms were the same, which made showering a little bit hard. After unpacking we got a tour of the campus and were introduced to everyone that worked there.
We played a couple of ice breaker type games and then went on a search for one of the last remaining redwood trees in this particular forest, that wasn’t cut down. Before The Boys and Girls Club of San Francisco bought the land it was owned by a logging company that cut down every tree except for like two. The tree was apparently big enough that we could fit our whole team around it stretching our arms out but we some how couldn’t find it. Instead we walked along train tracks and played with lizards we found in the forest. Failing miserably we came back to the flag pole (the main meeting area) and introduced a couple of the other teams to “WHAA”. WHAA is a game that Bonnie introduced to our team that is to hard to explain online but if you have worked at a camp or after school program for a while you might know about. We had some dinner, which was actually some of the best food I had in a while and then headed to the camp fire site. The main fire pit was at the bottom of this amphitheater looking thing that had a stage in the front and a big fire pit in front of the stage. Each group did a skit or a team song in front of everyone else. Our team did an AmeriNext Bus skit (based off of MTV’s Next Bus). It was pretty good, but I would have to say some of the other groups did better. Green Four did a skit on how they all got poison oak, and a couple teams made up some raps.
We woke up pretty early the next morning for PT and then headed to breakfast. After breakfast we got to go to a ropes course. We started off with a ring activity where we had to spin a ring and pass it through the group while we stood in a circle. Then we spent a good portion of the time on this “crossing the river” activity which we couldn’t get. The last hour or so we got to do the “high ropes” portion of the course where we crossed a tight rope that was suspended between two trees. After ropes course we got some lunch and then headed to do our service part of the trip. Our group and another group had to clear brush from around the counselors / staff house and burn it. Since I’m a little bit of a pyro I stayed next to the fire the whole time making sure it didn’t spread to fast and didn’t catch any of the surrounding trees on fire. Mary and I built one of the biggest bon fires I had seen in a while. The rest of the group took saws and cutters and cut down every bush and tree that could bee a potential fire hazard. Having too many trees around one area would make a forest fire spread rapidly. We finished up the day with some dinner and headed back to the bon fire where we listened to James and Anthony play guitar and then Allison play an electric harp. It was the first time I had ever heard an electric harp. She played a song called “Wagon Wheel” by Old Crow Medicine Show, which my group has not stopped listening to and singing since. Thanks!
The next morning we woke up, did 30 minutes of PT, packed the van, had some breakfast and headed back to campus.
The entire Green Squad traveled to Camp Mendocino which is about four hours away from Sacramento and is deep in the redwoods forest. The ride there was a little bit of a challenge for me because I’m not the best person in a car, and we drove down an old dirt road down the side of a mountain that twisted back and forth. When we finally arrived at camp we had to find our bags that were all mixed together. Everyone was issued either a green or red bag that we had to fit everything into, so everyone’s bag looked exactly the same. We finally got our bags and headed to our cabin. The guy’s cabin was on one side of the camp and girls on the other. The cabins were alright but not the best for the cold weather that we had. It was an open cabin which meant there were no windows and no door, only a sheet of plastic to hang over. The bathrooms were the same, which made showering a little bit hard. After unpacking we got a tour of the campus and were introduced to everyone that worked there.
We played a couple of ice breaker type games and then went on a search for one of the last remaining redwood trees in this particular forest, that wasn’t cut down. Before The Boys and Girls Club of San Francisco bought the land it was owned by a logging company that cut down every tree except for like two. The tree was apparently big enough that we could fit our whole team around it stretching our arms out but we some how couldn’t find it. Instead we walked along train tracks and played with lizards we found in the forest. Failing miserably we came back to the flag pole (the main meeting area) and introduced a couple of the other teams to “WHAA”. WHAA is a game that Bonnie introduced to our team that is to hard to explain online but if you have worked at a camp or after school program for a while you might know about. We had some dinner, which was actually some of the best food I had in a while and then headed to the camp fire site. The main fire pit was at the bottom of this amphitheater looking thing that had a stage in the front and a big fire pit in front of the stage. Each group did a skit or a team song in front of everyone else. Our team did an AmeriNext Bus skit (based off of MTV’s Next Bus). It was pretty good, but I would have to say some of the other groups did better. Green Four did a skit on how they all got poison oak, and a couple teams made up some raps.
We woke up pretty early the next morning for PT and then headed to breakfast. After breakfast we got to go to a ropes course. We started off with a ring activity where we had to spin a ring and pass it through the group while we stood in a circle. Then we spent a good portion of the time on this “crossing the river” activity which we couldn’t get. The last hour or so we got to do the “high ropes” portion of the course where we crossed a tight rope that was suspended between two trees. After ropes course we got some lunch and then headed to do our service part of the trip. Our group and another group had to clear brush from around the counselors / staff house and burn it. Since I’m a little bit of a pyro I stayed next to the fire the whole time making sure it didn’t spread to fast and didn’t catch any of the surrounding trees on fire. Mary and I built one of the biggest bon fires I had seen in a while. The rest of the group took saws and cutters and cut down every bush and tree that could bee a potential fire hazard. Having too many trees around one area would make a forest fire spread rapidly. We finished up the day with some dinner and headed back to the bon fire where we listened to James and Anthony play guitar and then Allison play an electric harp. It was the first time I had ever heard an electric harp. She played a song called “Wagon Wheel” by Old Crow Medicine Show, which my group has not stopped listening to and singing since. Thanks!
The next morning we woke up, did 30 minutes of PT, packed the van, had some breakfast and headed back to campus.
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