2009 Community Fellows

As the school year nears an end it becomes a good time to reflect on the hard work and effort that we all managed to muster to get through another academic year. But it is also a good time to extend congratulations to our fellow students that will finally complete their journey with Haas. The Haas School of Business Class of 2009 will take their last finals this May and walk out as the latest Haas alumni.

And with that in mind I'd like to announce those rare individuals in the class of 2009 that have not only accomplished what we all know firsthand is an immense amount of work, but also managed to invest personal time to volunteer in community service. These dedicated and good-hearted students have earned the Haas School of Business 2009 Community Fellows. This achievement they earned by completing at least 50 hours of community service at CSC events or through personal volunteering during their time at Haas. So if you run into these individuals give them a sincere congratulation. So without further delay please let me introduce the 2009 Haas Community Fellows:

• Dutta Satadip
• Kyle Kearney
• Dilpreet Singh
• Patrick Callery
• Jasmin Young
• Paigie Light
• Jennifer Elliott
• Melanie Harris
• Tim Ziemann
• Kyle M. Heller
• Anne Heaphy
• Ken So
• Courtney Dombek
• Renu Motwani
• Gilbert Lee
• Seungmyon (Steve) Park

I'd also like to give special recognition to Dutta Satadip who managed to contribute well over 500 hours of community service! The CSC sends their sincere congratulations to everyone on this list and a warm thank you for all their contributions.

Spring Cleaning Donation Drive

We're at the tail end of classes and at the perfect time to start uncluttering our lives. Pretty soon we'll be putting the textbooks back on the shelf, finding a storage place for that nice Haas backpack, and focusing on something other than the next deliverable. Why not start the summer fresh by cleaning out all the stuff around our homes that we just don't need? Those pants that don't fit now that we have no time to work out? All of those hotel toiletries from the rushed business trips between exams? The bedding you don't need anymore because you just bought new sets at the recession sales? Get rid of all the clutter!

Donate your stuff in the Community Service Committee's Spring Cleaning Donation Drive. All donations will be going to BOSS (Building Opportunities for Self-Sufficiency), which helps homeless, poor, and disabled people achieve self-sufficiency through housing, education, healthcare, and economic development. Starting Friday, collection bins will be located in Bank of America Forum, outside the library, and on Cheit Level 2, until May 15!

BOSS needs your:

CLOTHING
clean used or new: men’s, women’s, children
career and casual, shoes

TOILETRIES
shampoo, soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes
hotel goodies are perfect!

LINENS
clean bedding, towels

Donate now!

Vallejo Playground Build

Volunteers had a great time out in Vallejo's City Park getting the site ready for the new playground. We measured the foundation holes that been drilled into the ground, taught some neighbor kids how to help, and were able to see the work we had accomplished by the end of the afternoon.


One of the really nice things about this event, in particular, was the community involvement. All of the tools were donated or loaned by local families and organizations. We were only at the site for a few hours, but over the course of the afternoon we met so many locals who stopped by to help. One father was in the park with his kids and decided to help clean out a hole or two before going back to his day. His daughter learned how to use a couple of the tools and started showing us her skills! She was really proud that she was helping in the park where she comes to play. A group of neighbors with metal detectors stopped by to see what they could find and picked up dirty nails and dangerous metal scraps as they went along.


The organizer's daughter, Chloe, was especially curious about the build. A volunteer showed her how to use one of the tools to clean out and measure a hole.


By the end of the day, we were tired and dirty (partly from playing gopher!), but we were excited to see the results of our efforts. Once the playground is complete, we'll post pics of the kiddos enjoying the fruits of our labor. The 100% volunteer-run build continues through Sunday, May 3rd. If you're interested in helping get up the playground structures, email Monika Matthews to set up a time.

National Volunteer Week

It's National Volunteer Week!

Be a part of the movement! Join us Sunday as we work together to build a playground designed by children for Vallejo's City Park.

Help Build Vallejo's Enchanted Playground!

April 26th, 12:30-4:30pm, Vallejo City Park

Come join your Haas peers for a fun day of volunteering and networking. A Haas team will be helping the Vallejo Architectural Heritage Foundation build this playground. We'll be cutting and sealing wood, preparing the parts, and doing all kinds of other things to help out.

Sign up to help on the Evite!

What's really great about this event in particular, is that there's no cap on volunteers. This means you can bring your s.o., your roommate, your kiddos (age 10 and up only b/c it's a construction site!), or whoever else you want working by your side. If there's enough interest, we might enjoy some social time afterward at a nearby watering hole.



Custom designed by nearly 200 of Vallejo's greatest playground experts - our children! - and one of the nation's most innovative playground design firms, Leathers and Associates, the City Park playground will be unique and a point of pride for Vallejo's families.

Placed in a grove of sycamore trees in Vallejo's historic City Park, the playground features a massive tree fort at it's heart. It also incorporates Vallejo's nautical heritage with a large play-ship. A separate play area for smaller children features a "little marina" as well as a "sea life" sand box and bungalow playhouses designed to reflect the historic homes that surround the park.

Unlike conventional playgrounds, this will be built from the ground up from wood and natural looking composite decking. And it will be constructed entirely by volunteers!

City Park is located at the intersection of Sacramento and Louisiana Streets. Established in 1868, it is one of the oldest city parks in the western United States!

Introducing the 2009 Community Service Committee

Hello everyone! My name is Jerome Abregana, second year EWMBA student, here to introduce the 2009 Haas EWMBAA Community Service Committee. That’s a mouthful I know so you can also call us the CSC team too. But before I get too far I wanted to caveat that this is my first attempt at maintaining a blog, so bear with me if the writing is less than witty and amusing, but I assure you at the very least it will be informative and very useful.

Ok so back to the first order of business. Please let me introduce the 2009 Community Service Committee. So drum roll please…

Executive Sponsor: Amy Daily

Co-Chairs: Monika Matthews, Sukhi Singh

Jerome Abregana

Jeremy Fong

Narayan Janakiraman

Vikas Meka

Herman Ng

The second item I’d like to cover is outlining the committee’s objectives and general plan for the year. Our primarily goal this year is quite simply to increase the level of participation of the EWMBA community with the various volunteer and community service opportunities in the area. We realize that everyone is busy with school, work, family and other commitments but we also acknowledge that our fellow students have a genuine desire to get involved and contribute to the community. Our job, as we see it, is to really simplify the process and make it easier for you to have the opportunities to volunteer and make a contribution.

So in support of this goal the committee has outlined the following broad set of objectives for the year

1) We’ll be increasing the variety of events

2) Expand the number of events that occur in the south bay

3) Work towards having a community day with multiple simultaneous events so more opportunities for everyone to find and participate in the causes that matter most to them

4) More information and general awareness about Community Fellows Program

With these broad guidelines our hope is that we’ll simplify the process in getting involved and promote events that are closer to the heart of our fellow students. One last thing before I sign-off here. Take a look at the navigation bar to the right of this passage. Those links there we’ll continually be updated to inform you of upcoming community service events as well as a calendar of other charitable events throughout the bay area. And finally we’ll have a section for volunteer profiles. So here is a chance for you to tell us about your experience and tell us about those causes that matter most to you.

Whew, alright hopefully I covered everything. So that's it for now, but please do come back and I’ll have more updates, pictures of events and announcements.