The downpour on November 1 didn’t stop nearly 200 volunteers from Rebuilding Together San Francisco (RTSF), Salesforce.com and PREFund from dedicating their Saturday to paint and landscape Daniel Webster (DW). This massive volunteer day is part of an ongoing effort by PREFund to improve the physical plant of the school.

When RTSF learned that Salesforce.com was holding its annual conference in San Francisco and looking for a community service project for employees, they approached PREFund and DW with the offer of another RTSF work day in addition to the one last April where the exterior was painted and the one scheduled this coming April. PREFund and the school jumped at the chance.

In the weeks leading up to the big day, teachers selected colors and helped volunteers take everything off the walls. They returned to school Monday November 3 to freshly painted classrooms and hallways and a beautifully painted auditorium/cafeteria. The new colors highlight the building’s art deco accents and bring new light to the last remaining piece of the original DW architecture.

The weather didn’t deter the landscape team who augured, broke up cement and hauled it away to build garden plots around the trees generously planted last summer by Friends of the Urban Forest. They also beautified the fence line and front entrance of the school along Missouri Street with additional plants.

Special thanks go to Timberly & Alan Hughes of Jay’s Deli for providing food for all 200 volunteers (and to Ezra, D, Peter & Reed for flipping burgers in the pouring rain!).

Staff, students and parents at DW and PREFund are grateful to Kat Sawyer and the tremendous team at RTSF as well as the employees of Salesforce.com for giving so much to our community.