Comcast Cares Day, Denver and New Mexico report

For Saturday’s Comcast Cares Day, I was part of a small group that visited project sites in both chilly Denver and sweltering Albuquerque. We joined more than 1,000 blue-shirted volunteers who gathered at Denver Health and Ernie Pyle Middle School. The common thread is that both facilities serve low-income populations in their areas.

Our day included everything from preparing gift bags for new moms to planting trees. As I took notes throughout the day and tried to capture impressions, the word I kept writing was “smiles.”

I saw smiles everywhere. Little kids were smiling while covered with dirt or paint, or both. Comcast executives who sit behind a desk all week were smiling after pushing a giant root ball into a hole. Hospital administrators and employees from Denver Health were smiling, as were teachers and parents from Ernie Pyle.

Even politicians were smiling, whether it was Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, Colorado Senator Michael Bennett or New Mexico State Treasurer James Lewis.

I couldn’t help putting on my old reporter’s hat and asking several people what this day meant to them. I already know what it means for Comcast because we talk about it, and prepare for it, all year.

Read on to see some pictures, and read my notes from the day.

Treasurer Lewis was gracious with his time and we had an interesting conversation, in part about the simple act of planting a tree. Here’s what he told me:

“The kids will see the trees being planted. They’ll see workers from Comcast as role models and mentors. The legacy you’re leaving behind will be second to none. Planting a tree and giving them an environment they can be proud of is uplifting. We want our kids to be uplifted. We want them to say, ‘I’m proud to go to Ernie Pyle’. Then they’ll take that back home and it’ll radiate throughout their family, and we need that family to be engaged.”

I also spoke with Liz Shipley, the president of the board of Albuquerque’s Public Schools Education Foundation. She talked with great passion about a school as being “the heart of every community” and how “it means so much to know that a community is behind you.”

On Saturday the community joined together to freshen up the entire campus. Debris: gone. Basketball court: lines painted, nets installed. Parking lot: handicapped spots and fire lanes painted. Locker rooms: cleaned. Front entrance: filled with trees. Just about everywhere else: spruced up and mulched.

One of the biggest smiles I saw all day belonged to principal James Lujan, who couldn’t wait for his students to return to their “new” school on Monday morning.

Earlier, at Denver Health, beautification was also the main intent. This was a sprawling project that encompassed several locations. As we drove to our site, I saw enormous mulch piles that seemed to be scattered all around the city. Some brief, drizzling rain and a chilly breeze didn’t damper anyone’s spirits, as landscaping, planting, grounds clean-up and painting proceeded outdoors.

Our group spent most of our time indoors, where we participated in a unique “Newborns in Need” project run by the Denver Health Foundation. It brought tears to our eyes.

Picture walking into a large room filled with infant clothing, blankets, diapers, lotions and many other necessities for newborns. All of these items needed to be packed in reusable bags to be given to mothers who’d just given birth, upon their discharge from the hospital.

Before we began, we learned from an emotional video that four thousand babies are born each year at Denver Health, 90 percent into poverty. Wet disposable diapers are sometimes rinsed out and reused. Moms have taken their babies home on public transportation.

About 50 volunteers pitched in to pack dozens of bags in assembly line fashion and ready them for delivery during the next several weeks. I wish I could see the moms’ reactions.

Afterward, I spoke with Robin Engelberg, who’s the Program Manager for the Denver Health Foundation. She talked about Comcast employees holding a pre-Comcast Cares Day baby shower and “in such a heartfelt way, donating hundreds of items.” Then I asked Robin to describe what this day meant.

“If you’re poor, having a baby is a tremendous challenge,” she said. “What we’re doing here today means the world to these mothers. They want everything for their babies, just like every mother wants, but their circumstances don’t allow it. Receiving a gift bag helps the family to feel they’ve welcomed their baby in an appropriate way. The baby will have some beautiful outfits to wear. They’ll have diapers. And they’ll know that somebody in their community cares about their baby.”

Finally, I stopped Denver Mayor Hickenlooper for a quick word. He said that when the public sector and private industry come together, “We have a better city. It can’t all just come from the government.”

Stories like these took place all over the country, as nearly 60,000 volunteers served at more than 500 project sites. What a great day.