During the second week of September, hundreds of volunteers from General Motors, Southwest Detroit Environmental Vision (SDEV), Ideal Group, and Detroit Cristo Rey gathered for what is known as teamGM Cares Week to improve areas of the city through community service projects.
Now in its sixth year, the annual project has General Motors employees from all over the country donate time to community service projects.
The projects are led by teamGM, whose mission is to encourage service among employees and improve the community where General Motors employees live and work.
Cristo Rey sophomores Daniel Hernandez and Eric Perez prepare to paint. Photo by Howler Staff.
This year in Detroit, efforts focused on street clean ups, painting, and landscaping at eight locations such as the Detroit Police Department, Oakwood Heights Community Garden,Cadillac Urban Gardens, and Scarcyny Park. Sponsors made this event a success by providing food, donating materials, and coming out to support.
At Detroit Cristo Rey, volunteers cleaned the alley, weeded raised garden beds, and painted garages. Next door, volunteers created a rain garden and organized the library at Holy Redeemer Grade School.
“My experience during GM week was amazing because I got to work with people from different companies and different departments from Ideal Group,” said sophomore Daniel Hernandez, who works at Ideal Group, one of the volunteer partners.
“I loved the communication that everyone had, such as teaching me and (sophomore) Eric Perez how to paint the walls, and taking care of each other when providing some help on tasks that were sometimes challenging.”
