Habitat for Humanity Greater Los Angeles
Garden, in partnership with Habitat for Humanity of Greater San Francisco, includes more than a dozen planter boxes and an orchard that produces apples, elderberries, figs, persimmons, plums and mulberries. To produce that bounty of wholesome food, as any gardener will attest, you sometimes need to get your hands dirty. So that’s
Project: Participated in a hands-on project to aid in building a house in the area Habitat LA constructs new homes or renovates older ones for the low-to-moderate income segment of the local population. Since 1990, the organization has built, repaired or rehabilitated more than 1,000 houses in neighborhoods throughout greater Los Angeles. Notably, Habitat LA requires that the recipients of the homes themselves invest 200 to 500 hours of “sweat equity” in the projects, working alongside volunteers to complete their homes. “I’m very happy for the young couple whose house we helped contribute to building,” Sherri Harris, a CB&T associate, said. “To be a part of that process and for them to now have a brand- new home… I’m just so excited
what 18 CB&T volunteers did on Sept. 3. The team tore out old irrigation lines and installed new ones, removed rocks and weeds from the planter boxes and performed many other landscaping tasks to help beautify the garden.
“It was a beautiful day and our team was thrilled to be able to contribute our time and energy to a truly grass-roots effort,” said Yvonne Le, senior vice president, commercial banking team lead. “Sustainable urban agriculture is a great practice, and it was gratifying for CB&T team members to lend their support.” Overall, the opportunity left the team of volunteers with a lingering feeling of satisfaction and pride. “We continually strive to strengthen our communities,” said Jake Lehmkuhl, executive vice president. “It’s one of our core values, and a day like today is a demonstration of the genuine care that CB&T employees feel for our fellow Californians. We’re pleased and proud to be able to contribute.” Continually serving the communities As might be expected, the value of the Give Day experience extended far beyond the community support it delivered to those in need. It also touched the hearts and minds of the CB&T employee volunteers themselves, many of whom are already looking forward to next year’s event. “We’ve spent more than a year managing the disruptive effects of operating in a pandemic, and it was the right time to reinforce our long-standing emphasis on giving back to our communities,” Ellingsen said. “Give Day was an amazing collective effort and our employees truly made it a huge success by supporting their community nonprofits. We’re committed to giving our communities the help they need to thrive and we’re only just getting started!”
for them. To see that is a very worthwhile thing.” CB&T associates also volunteered at three Habitat for Humanity ReStores in Los Angeles. The ReStores
are independently owned reuse stores
designed to accept public donations, with which they stock and sell a constantly
changing inventory of diverse, high-quality merchandise to the public at a fraction of the retail price.
Northridge CommUNITY Garden, Habitat for Humanity, Greater San Francisco
Project: Performed landscaping tasks to beautify the community garden The Northridge CommUNITY Garden came to life in 2010 when a group of neighbors at Northridge Cooperative Homes, a $55 million nonprofit that provides affordable low-income housing, sought a way to foster community spirit and improve health outcomes. Today, the Northridge CommUNITY
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