City Year Heroes celebrate MLK Day!

Eight-thirty on a Saturday morning might seem early, especially to a group of middle-school and high-school students. (At least they didn’t have to join the Heroes teams for prep at 6:30 a.m.)

Nonetheless, 61 Young Heroes and 47 City Heroes – not to mention the other 130+ volunteers– swarmed the plaza outside the C Commons at Independence High School on January 17, 2009, the City Year San Jose/Silicon Valley Heroes Opening Day. Despite the cold (the low for the day was 40 degrees), the day was bright as Heroes, City Year SJSV corps members, family, and friends gathered to commemorate the civil rights movement and honor the life and work of Dr. King.

City Year celebrates Dr. King´s birthday as a "day ON, not a day off” through local service projects for the community. The City Year San Jose / Silicon Valley corps members and Heroes chose to restore parts of Independence High School.

The day of service followed an inspiring opening ceremony, which included a physical training demonstration by the Heroes, and speeches by City Year SJSV Executive Director Beach Pace; a Young Heroes alumna; Raquel Gonzalez, Bank of America Silicon Valley market president; Mark Walker, managing director of global community affairs for the Young Heroes local sponsor Applied Materials; and Bryant Young, San Francisco 49ers alumni player and representative for the City Heroes local sponsor 49ers Foundation. One Young Hero and one City Hero braved their nerves and gave fantastic speeches, showcasing their enhanced public speaking skills.

Finally, both Young Heroes and City Heroes recited their respective program pledges at the end of the opening ceremony, kicking off the start of their five months of service and heading straight into their service teams.

By the end of the day, Independence High had two newly-painted and renovated baseball fields, two beautiful planter boxes, a new set of cubbies, two brightly-colored benches, a number of planted and watered shrubs, multiple panel murals, and no trash left behind.

So much went into the planning for the event, from in-kinding food, to securing and preparing the service site, organizing supplies, setting up look-and-feel around the school, and of course dealing with a couple boo-boos. All of the work feels well worth it, however, when you hear Heroes continue to talk about the great time they had and the fun they will remember.