September 15, 2007, San Francisco, CA
A small nonprofit organization residing at 1140 Oak Street welcomed over 50 volunteers on a cool Saturday morning to help refurbish its building. In less than 6 hours, the house 
was given a complete transformation with beautifully painted walls shaded in pastel colours of baby blue, pink, green and purple. It was completed with 4 new benches in the basketball court and a fresh coat of paint on the fences. Plants were planted to freshen up the little plot of land surrounding the house. With flowers dipping in the breeze and the leaves of young trees swaying to the rhythm of the winds blowing in, the whole place looked lively and coolly inviting to welcome one's presence. Inside the house, volunteers busily taped and painted the walls, assembled new chairs and tables for the rooms and one group of them were camped in the basement meticulously painting a set of 6-panel canvas picture intended for the conference room. So who are these people and why are they there?
The volunteers were a hodgepodge of employees, customers, partners and foundation staff from Salesforce.com. This event is their way to start Dreamforce 07 with a bang albeit with the sounds of hammers and drills amidst loud laughter and chatter. The venue is the Westside Community Centre and this is actually the volunteer project which began as part of Dreamforce 07's list of activities. Sponsored by VerticalResponse and co-ordinated by Hands on Bay Area, the volunteering project had two parts, one in Westside Community Centre and the other at St Joseph's Family Centre. It was such a huge attraction that the foundation had to turn away volunteers and close the registration early.
At Westside, volunteers put in a total of over 300 hours in one Saturday morning to complete what would take a person more than a month to warrant the changes that was created in the building. The event was very well organized with Christie and Tessa (Hands on Bay employees) planning and arranging the logistics and some Salesforce.com employees doubling their volunteering roles as projects lead to help oversee the respective project areas. It was a great informal opportunity for employees to get to know each other, working with customers and partners away from the usual working environment and just to spend time a little differently from the usual Saturday morning chores. Some of the volunteers were so determined to be part of the project that despite missing the arranged transport; the cab losing its way or not being able to find proper parking, they still made it to Westside without nary a complaint and happily trooping off for the pre-volunteering briefing. It was very gratifying for one who is managing the registration booth to see such heartening spirit and commitment to the cause. Thank you for turning up despite all obstacles!
Lastly, just as the activity was wrapping up with a quick debrief, one of the organizers remarked to the volunteers to leave in a
different way from they had arrived to see the other parts of the house where the others had made their mark and feel the difference that was created in just 6 short hours. With many hands indeed made work easy and suddenly, as one leaves, the day felt warm. Both by the warmth from the sun's rays and from the heart for the simple act of doing good well.
Here's a video of the event at St. Joseph's Volunteer site. Filmed and edited by Ciaran, Marketing Manager for the UK Sailing Academy.