Corporate Month of Service at

John A. Johnson Elementary School in St. Paul

Our work at John A. Johnson Elementary in St. Paul was divided between two great groups of volunteers - one from SAP, and one from UBS.  On two consecutive Saturdays they got busy, got dirty, and made a difference.

Saturday, October 6

We thought you said "a lot" of mulch.  This is nothing...

19 volunteers from SAP bravely stood up to the biggest pile of mulch we've ever seen and, three hours later, emerged victorious!  They made 40 cubic yards look like...well, like a lot less than 40 cubic yards, that's for sure.  What's more, they made Johnson's playground look just like new!

While they were at it, these volunteers pulled some dying (yet extremely tough) evergreen bushes out of the landscaped plots in preparation for the following Saturday's projects.

SAP volunteers cared for Johnson's playground as if it was their own backyard.

Saturday, October 13

Before...

One week later, 20 volunteers from UBS arrived on a brisk and beautiful morning to finish what had been started on October 6.  Working non-stop from 9 am to noon, they pulled up the old landscape tarp, leveled the ground, planted a tree, and lay edging and sod to completely transform the corner of Walsh and York!

While half of the team was tackling this project, the other half painted a world map and 4-square courts onto the playground's blacktop. 

This blacktop is sad and boring.  But not for long!

In addition to all of the fantastic volunteers from SAP and UBS, we'd like to extend a very special thanks to Lynnell Thiel and Frank Feinberg at Johnson Elementary, who thought nothing of volunteering their hard-earned Saturdays to open the school for us and help us unleash the power of volunteerism.  Thanks!

Volunteers pause to honor the vanquished mulch pile

Other CMOS 2007 Projects:

Sept. 15 - Cityview School

Sept. 27 - Cleveland Junior High School

October 13 - Southside Family Charter School

After!

Teaching kids to associate "geography" with "fun"