MorganHillTimes.com | Volunteering for tomorrow

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Volunteering for tomorrow

Mar 28, 2008
By Mark Noack





		Margaret Johnston, who has been volunteering in Morgan Hill for 10 years, sits among a bed of iceland poppies that she picked out and planted outside of the South Valley Civic Theater.
		Photo by: Lora Schraft








		Nichola Carpendale digs a hole to plant a columbine in front of the Morgan Hill Civic Center. Carpendale has been volunteering to help in the garden since September 2007.
		Photo by: Lora Schraft








		Nichola Carpendale prunes a sage plant in the native garden in front of the Civic Center.
		Photo by: Lora Schraft








		Carpendale prunes a western rosebud in the native garden in front of the Morgan Hill Civic Center. Carpendale has been volunteering to help in the garden since September 2007.
		Photo by: Lora Schraft

Dr. Nikki Carpendale just wanted to do something more. When her daughter began attending high school, Carpendale had a lot more free time in between her job as an urgent care physician at the Palo Alto Medical Clinic and the usual chores around the house.

Since her own youth, growing up in New York state, Carpendale has been passionate about nature and the environment. During her own youth, she was her high school's representative to the very first official Earth Day, held in Albany in 1970.

Now living in Morgan Hill, Carpendale wanted to do more with her greenthumb.

"I called up city hall, and I basically said, 'Put me to work!'" Carpendale said.

Working with Tony Eulo, the city's environmental programs director, Carpendale carved out her own volunteer project for the community: planting a garden of California-native plants near city hall.

Since last September, Carpendale has loaded up her gardening tools every Wednesday morning and driven out to care for Morgan Hill's plants - before driving up to Palo Alto to care for her patients.

Morgan Hill has a longstanding tradition of committed residents donating their money or spare time for community events and projects. The city's many annual functions and valuable services simply could not exist without the contributions of community members.

For example, the city's environmental goals to improve air quality and greenhouse gas emissions is being designed and planned by volunteers who want to encourage others to voluntarily adopt eco-friendly lifestyles.

Sunday Minnich, who works as event director for Morgan Hill's annual Mushroom Mardi Gras, says the annual May festival could not be put on without the combined efforts of more than 150 volunteers.

"They provide everything from set up to registration, beer and wine pourers, ticket sellers, garbage pick up, Port-A-Potty duties, clean up and tear down," said Minnich, an unpaid helper herself. "We have a board of nine members who all volunteer."

Educators in the Morgan Hill Unified School District have long sought to teach aspects of volunteerism before sending students out into the professional world. For more than 30 years, the district high schools have required their senior students to participate in local community activities.

"For us the intent is to get kids to make a transition into the community," said Sobrato High School civics teacher Jeannie Wallace. "This is their last year of high school, and we want to make them into active citizens."

District officials say students can choose to attend a variety of community activities, such as meetings for the city council, school board or another government entity. But students are encouraged to go one step further, and take the initiative to help out at local non-profits and events.

"When they are in the process of it, they tend to appreciate the experiences," Wallace said. "Afterwards, many students will say 'wow, I've never knew that's what a city council meeting is like. This is pretty cool.' "

District authorities say that many students choose to volunteer at food banks, soup kitchens and local festivals. Some students get creative with this assignment and find unique jobs to fill. In the past, seniors have helped at the Special Olympics and joined local political campaigns. Wallace recalls one student who traveled to the state Democratic convention many years back.

Local educators hope that these assignments will give students access into the civic life of Morgan Hill, and perhaps inspire them to care for their community.

Morgan Hill resident Carol O'Hare believes that people are willing to contribute their time, labor and even money to help their community if the cause is something they truly believe in.

"People do it because they love Morgan Hill." O'Hare said. "Most of my volunteer work has been done with Friends of the Library, and I love the library; I'm passionate about it."

The former president of Friends of the Library, O'Hare was honored by the city's Chamber of Commerce for her many hours of volunteer work by awarding her the 2007 Woman of the Year Award.

"We don't have huge numbers of people, and that's what everyone like about Morgan Hill," she said. "It's the feel of small-town-ness."

Mark Noack
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