Cover Story
Above, Jerry Wagger, left, Harvey Sharfstein, Seymour Alpert, Cliff Catterlin and Chris Gallagher serve a hot meal at Grace Lutheran Church in Palo Alto through InnVision/ Shelter Network’s Breaking Bread program, which offers hot meals daily at different churches. Right, Avenidas volunteer Barb Zimmer helps Vera Parker, who has macular degeneration and difficulty reading labels, shop for her groceries at the Midtown Safeway. to know you did something productive on a and East Menlo Park. Saturday,” she said. One recent book told the story of a boy and “Every time I come out I get a bit of an a big green monster who became friends. education. The mustard and fennel plants — “She likes books that focus on friendI didn’t know that they weren’t indigenous to ships,” Delaney said of her student. the area. They take over and don’t protect Volunteers like Delaney visit kids in their the native animals.” homes on a weekly basis, ideally over the Save The Bay relies on around 5,000 vol- two-year span of a child’s eligibility in the unteers each year who put in roughly 20,000 program (ages 3 and 4). man hours to protect and restore the San Paul Thiebaut III, founder of 10 Books Francisco Bay’s wetlands. A Home, recently related the satisfaction of Last Saturday, Jack States, a Save The Bay nurturing the progress in both a child’s readrestoration project specialist, spoke to the ing ability and engagement with books. He few dozen volunteers who had turned out to spoke with the cadence of a slam poet. help replant the baylands. He pointed to an “In almost anything we do, we get to eximage published years ago in the Oakland perience the hour hand on the clock. If you Tribune. stare at it, it never moves,” Thiebaut said. “Save The Bay was founded in 1961 be“Here, you get to see every single second cause of this picture right here,” he said, it’s moving. It blows my mind how such a holding a projection made by the U.S. Army simple act can have such a profound influCorps of Engineers of what the San Fran- ence,” he added, referencing the 40 minutes cisco Bay could look like — what it could a week volunteers spend with the children. be reduced to — by 2020. Above the image A few feet from the desk of his combined ran the words: “Bay or River?” office/residence, a pair of tall racks stood Since the Gold Rush, 90 percent of the packed with around 2,000 children’s books. bay’s wetlands have been lost to develop- From this pool, volunteers bring the ones ment and agriculture. The baylands are they think their students will be happiest to home to endangered animals. add to their growing library. The volunteers plant native flora where Delaney said engaging children with stothese animals thrive. Within a few short rybooks can have a real impact. hours, 600 new plants lined the raised levee “I do believe in trying to get children where many animals would seek refuge in ahead in education. Children of less forthe event of a storm. tunate backgrounds are behind when they “It’s interesting to give back, especially start school and they end up staying that in a place you live,” said Miranda Riviera, a way,” she said. high school student from San Jose. “I want to come back and see if these plants get big- Stanford Blood Center ger, if it actually worked.” t takes around 150 trained volunteers to keep the work of the Stanford Blood 10 Books A Home Center pumping year-round. uzanne Delaney has been reading “We use volunteers at all three of the cenbooks to a young girl since May as a ters and out on the blood drives,” said Tessa volunteer with 10 Books A Home, an Moore, the organization’s volunteer servicorganization that strives to build early lit- es manager, referring to the center’s three eracy by pairing volunteers with young underprivileged kids living in East Palo Alto (continued on next page)
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