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Health & Fitness

Kaiser Permanente Volunteers Make a Happy, Healthy Difference on MLK Day of Service

Here is a posting from Frank Simpson... who calls himself a Sometimes Blogger and Active Photo Enthusiast who covered Kaiser Volunteers this past week as part of Petaluma's Rebuilding Together which has partnered with Kaiser Permanente for MLK Day of Service.
Link to Franks blog:  http://frankpetaluma.wordpress.com/2014/01/21/mlk-day-2014-a-day-of-service/

Link to photo gallery of those volunterring:
http://rtpetaluma.smugmug.com/Other-2/Kaiser/Kaiser-MLK-Day-2014/36186098_vGdvRT#!i=3034809568&k=dXH...
Thanks you Frank for sharing this wonderful story about KP giving back to the community...


For the 10th year in a row, Kaiser Permanente personnel celebrated MLK Day by making a positive impact on the health of our community.

This year, more than 40 employees, families, and friends volunteered to spruce up the Novato Youth Center, a 37-year-old nonprofit organization that annually serves more than 4,200 youth and families.

Working under the guidance of Rebuilding Together, volunteers stepped up to:
· Paint and install cubby benches for reading and computer work
· Refurbish/stencil bookshelves.
· Sew curtains for a kids' puppet theater.
· Bookmark educational websites on 12 computers.
· Revitalize the center’s landscape with newly painted wine-barrel planters, flowers, and 1400 sq. feet of sheet mulching.
· Create a new hopscotch board on the concrete front patio.

Enthusiasm accompanied every ounce of elbow grease.

“This is fabulous,” said KP San Rafael Employee Health Services & Occupational Medicine Asst. Manager Sheryl Braum, RN, who served on the hopscotch design team (with her husband Tom). “When I think of the kids who’ll get to play, I see all these smiling faces and remember how much I used to enjoy playing hopscotch as a kid.”

At day’s end, the result was “tremendous,” according to Ally Oxenhandler, manager of the Novato Youth Center’s school-age program. “This was the biggest gift—it feels like we won the lottery! These contributions will help us serve the youth and families of our community, as well as bringing tremendous enthusiasm to our staff and students.”





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