On the morning of Thursday, June 17th, 2010, Christel House Academy students and staff discovered a transformation of their school’s grounds, as though a magic wand had been waved over the campus the previous night.

As they approached the school’s front steps, the students and staff were welcomed by new and improved entryway garden beds, clean and organized, with a plethora of brightly colored perennials and freshly laid mulch. Park benches and picnic tables filled the field near the front entrance under the large, shady trees, a perfect place for lunch or even an outside class lesson. Perhaps the greatest bit of magic seemed to have taken place on the south side of campus in the preservation area. Twenty-four hours prior the area was overgrown with weeds; the trees resembled large bushes due to the suckers growing from their bases; large piles of brush cluttered the space. All of the above had been removed and replaced with well groomed landscape, a serene river rock path, a circular bench meeting area, and a series of more picnic tables.

Alas, magic was not to credit for this amazing transformation. A team, not of magicians, but extraordinary people, passionate about Christel House, deserved credit for what greeted the Christel House Academy students and staff that beautiful morning. Wednesday, June 16th will go down in the history books at Christel House as a day of volunteerism at its best and of epic proportions, as on this day over 100 volunteers from Team Home Depot, Raintree, and RCI worked from dawn until dusk on to create an outside environment worthy of the one within the Academy’s walls.

The seed for the project was planted in April when Raintree and RCI reached out to Christel House Academy with the offer of 40 volunteers. Meanwhile, conversations had begun with Team Home Depot about rallying its employees, also for a large volunteer project on the Academy's campus. When the west side Team Home Depot leader heard about Raintree and RCI's kind offer, she recognized instantly the potential impact and synergy that would come from combining volunteer forces. She also knew that the Home Depot Foundation might provide monetary support for the project upon hearing of the outpouring of volunteer spiritedness. She was right.

In late May, Christel House Academy received a $6200 grant from the Home Depot Foundation. While the Raintree, RCI, and Team Home Depot volunteers helped to inspire the grant, Indy's west side Home Depot Store 2014 helped facilitate it, working tirelessly in preparing for the big day, taking every measure to ensure the merchandise list met the needs of the Academy, and organizing tools and equipment. Also impressive, 2014 enlisted the help of representatives from all 9 local Home Depots, including store managers, the District Manager and several other district level employees. Clearly, Home Depot is a company that believes in the importance of leading by example.
As planning unfolded, one piece of equipment was missing from the list, one that Home Depot simply did not have in its inventory: a dumpster. In the eleventh hour, Ray’s Trash Service came through with a heavily discounted dumpster for the project. Normally, the delivery/removal of a dumpster and disposal of its contents costs upwards of $400. Ray’s graciously agreed to only charge Christel House $125 for the service. The dumpster proved to be a crucial element of the project, as evidenced by the mounds of debris that nearly overflowed its edges by the day’s end.

With all the hard work carried out, food was another critical component of the day’s success. The Indy South Plaza Pizza Hut kindly contributed 10 pizzas to the cause, while the Indiana Avenue Qdoba donated a taco bar that served 20. The food was hot, tasty, filling, and thoroughly enjoyed by the volunteers.

Words cannot express the gratitude felt by the entire Christel House team. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you Home Depot Foundation, Team Home Depot, Raintree, RCI, Ray’s Trash Service, Pizza Hut, and Qdoba! What happened on the campus of Christel House Academy, June 16th, 2010, was nothing short of magical!

Labels: Academy, corporate, service, visitor, Volunteer, Watanabe High School