12/23/08: We’re hiring! Teen Task Force members that is!

“We are hiring new members” said Tracy. My first reaction was WHAT! We are getting fired? But she later explained that we needed more people to replace the Task Force members who are leaving the project due to their plans after high school.

Then Task Force members were grouped in groups of 2, each in charge of updating the job application, a flyer, and the interview questions. At the next meeting we started discussing how the interviewing process was going to work. Each one of us is in charge of interviewing the teens in an assigned interview. It could be a phone, group or final in-person interview. We decided this because by following this process every Task Force member would have met the finalists.

This really excites me because we are going to meet new teens and also because it gives us an opportunity to demonstrate how much we have learned throughout the year. We will get to teach the new members what we’ve learned.

What are we looking for in new Task Force members? We are looking for excited teens to work on the project as best as they can, for them to adapt easily to the responsibility of working on a changing project, to give whatever they can to the Task Force, and most importantly to help us on a project to make a lot of people’s dream come true.

Interested in joining us on the Teen Center Task Force? Click here to see what it takes and to access the application.

12/17/08: 'Legacy' Echoed in My Head

It all started on an average day in sophomore year. So there I was, half-daydreaming through my third period English class. Suddenly out of the abyss of classroom chatter I heard Ms. Jones describing something along the lines of: “Fun…paid job…YMCA…Teen Center…great opportunity.” This was it - this would be the change of pace I had been looking for for over two years.

I realize now that joining the Teen Center Task Force was a very special
and significant decision for me. I realized this during one of our first meetings.
I still remember the sweat seeping out of my pores as I struggled to stay attentive in that stuffy inferno of a meeting room. Again, I sat there half-daydreaming, still unsure if I had made the right decision about joining the team. Our conversation was just beginning to touch on all the things we would soon learn about completing a project of this scale. This was the first sign of things to come like: lots and lots of fundraising, planning, hiring architects and consultants, writing formal reports and requests, budgeting, public networking, and the oh so holy paycheck. Soon one of our most intelligent and entertaining adult volunteers, Tom Ratcliff, began to talk about what a Teen Center will do for Berkeley and all the great changes that will be brought about. This got me thinking – I am going to leave a legacy in my home town. Just that word – ‘legacy’ – echoed in my head. I was inspired. With a flash of the future before my eyes and a rush of determination I started on my path to change the world.

As I look back on joining the Teen Center Task Force it’s been a very interesting, fun, scary, and confusing experience. I know that pretty much sums up life. Really though, I basically applied for this position with an enthusiasm that can only be described as naïve. I didn’t know what I was actually getting into. Unknowingly I was about to go on one of the most inspirational rides of my life.

And boy, looking back now I know that this change of pace at the YMCA has forever changed my life.

12/16/08: Joerg - A Normal Guy

As many of you may know, Bayer HealthCare – the major manufacturer of products that improve human and animal health worldwide – is a major supporter and benefactor of the Teen Center project. When asked how I felt about them supporting this project a lot of things came to mind but the first was extremely grateful.

I know that as many projects in the business world go, they cannot even attempt to be successful with out a strong partner. Bayer is our major and well known partner and supporter - contributing to the capital campaign to build the Teen Center and serving as the founding supporter of the Teen Task Force itself. Bayer is helping to supply the educational stipend that all members of the Teen Task Force will be receiving after finishing their time on the project.

Through this partnership with Bayer, I have had the pleasure of meeting and conversing with Joerg Heidrich, Senior Vice President and Berkeley Site Head of Bayer HealthCare. During our community engagement breakfast in September I was thrown the task of introducing him as our guest. Through some research that I did he appeared to be a very interesting man. His business philosophy is “I’m not the one making nice charts; I’m more the one who’s about action, execution, and making continuous improvements.”

Upon my second meeting with Mr. Heidrich at the YMCA Annual Dinner in November, I was actually able to sit next to him and have a regular conversation. And just as I had assumed about him being interesting – it was indeed true. Though he plays a major role at Bayer HealthCare he is still a normal guy. We talked about things like iPhones, iPods and how technology is advancing rapidly.

Mrs. Heidrich was talking to the guy next to her about exercise and how Mr. Heidrich needs to get back into it.


More information on Bayer HealthCare and the work they in the US and around the world click here.

More information on Bayer USA Foundation and the work they do to support non-profits like the YMCA click here.

12/11/08: Nothing I Should Feel Scared About

As I slipped on my slacks I thought of all those people that were going to be there tonight." There is nothing I should feel scared about, I have met most of these people before, it will all be fine," I thought to myself as I took a deep calming breath. I got to the Teen Center at 5:00pm and positioned myself at the greeting table. Minutes later the room was filled with Rotarians – looking nice and mingling with Task Force.

Rotarians are members of the Rotary Club, a non- profit organization that is committed to improving communities everywhere. The Berkeley Rotary Club has been an important piece to the puzzle we’re working on – the making of the Teen Center – because of their financial support I am able to be a part of the Teen Center Task Force.

After introductions we gave tours of the building to the Rotarians and saw the look of excitement in their faces and heard it in their questions.

After tours back in the lobby Fran (the YMCA’s President/CEO) and Tracy (our supervisor) talked for a couple of minutes, and then it was our turn to be in the hot seat. We all spoke about why we joined the Task Force and what projects we were currently working on. We ended the night with a brief Q&A session.

The questions made us think and speak on our feet, but we all did our part to give accurate responses. Everyone spoke eloquently, I was proud of how far we have come as a team and as individuals. Okay, I’ll just say it – we did great!

Though the night was over and the event was a success, with both sides learning a lot from each other we still have a Teen Center to build.

Rotary likes to be involved in projects ‘with’ the community rather than ‘for’ the community. For more information on the types of projects that Rotary works on click here.