"I gave a shit and all I got was this lousy t-shirt…"

ChevronTexaco brightens up center

Volunteers with paint, rollers, ladders transform building for seniors, disabled

By Tamara Grippi, STAFF WRITER

Saturday, September 18, 2004 – ChevronTexaco volunteers arrived at a Contra Costa nonprofit organization this week with paint, rollers and ladders, ready to transform a 50-year-old building that serves seniors and disabled residents. The volunteers were taking part in the annual “Week of Caring” event organized by the United Way and the Volunteer Centers of the Bay Area.

This year, ChevronTexaco decided to take on the large-scale project of painting Rehabilitation Services of Northern California’s entire 30,000-square-foot site in Pleasant Hill.

That building is home to two vital community programs: Mount Diablo Vocational Services, which offers training and job guidance for the disabled, and Mount Diablo Center for Adult Day Health Care, aimed at helping frail elderly residents maintain their independence.

The company’s Overseas Petroleum division paid for $8,000 to $10,000 worth of supplies and coordinated the volunteer effort.

Tim Miller, the management sponsor for that department, said his group was thinking big this year.

“We wanted to pick out something that would really make a difference,” he said. “We went to see the facility and were overwhelmed with how big it is. So we plunged in and started coordinating all the different departments and logistics of getting it done in a week.”

The help was badly needed. More than 25 years have passed since the building was last painted.

“It’s incredible,” said Craig King, president and chief executive officer of the Rehabilitation Services of Northern California. “It’s an absolutely spectacular gift from ChevronTexaco.”

The adult day health care center offers classes, physical therapy, social and cultural programs, arts and crafts and exercise groups for 100 frail seniors each year.

The vocational program offers training and job guidance for 170 people with disabilities, including at-risk youth and those with special education needs.

Rehabilitation services of Northern California was founded in 1949 in a church basement, King said. In 1956, community volunteers built the Pleasant Hill facility with donated materials.

“ChevronTexaco’s week of caring follows within that tradition,” King said.