The Sunnydale community was ready for a game-changer. This past December, the Golden State Warriors’ brought their team spirit to San Francisco’s Sunnydale neighborhood. Seventy-four of the NBA team’s office employees partnered with Mercy Housing, Boys and Girls Club of SF, and Urban Sprouts for our big Season of Giving event.

For years, many Sunnydale residents struggled to gain access to essential community opportunities and resources, the same resources that you and I need to be the best version of ourselves — education, transportation, and much more. Right now, the neighborhood is undergoing a big revitalization overhaul and with the first of many phases of construction completed, volunteers and residents wanted to ensure that the look and feel of these updates are meeting the neighborhood’s needs.

Residents and volunteers teamed up, breaking into groups to divide and conquer tasks. They focused on improving places where Sunnydale can strengthen and build community services and engagement.

At Cleo Nelson and Blythdale gardens, residents grow their own produce because they’re passionate about eating healthier, but the gardens needed a little sprucing up. By the end of the day, the resident-volunteer crews had built 20 new beds and constructed an impressive garden shed so that more people can grow more food, and in the process get to know and enjoy their neighbors.

While some crews were working in the Sunnydale gardens, others helped to brighten things up for the Out-of-School Time programs at the Youth Center with a fresh coat of Warrior’s themed blue and gold paint keeping the spirit of San Francisco vibrant in this locale that’s central to community activities. This Youth Center hosts many events ranging from academics to sporting activities, but transitioning between activities was cumbersome and time-consuming for everyone that’s been using the facility over the years. Volunteer teams organized recreational equipment and brainstormed ways to make those transitions between programs seamless and fluid, so kids keep on learning and playing.

To close the event, 60 youth participated in a field day hosted at the updated community center. Volunteers helped to decorate for the party, paint faces, play games, and hung out with Sunnydale residents. Children even got to meet Warrior’s center, ZaZa Pachulia.

The structural changes to the community are just the beginning of all the positive change that’s happening at Sunnydale. We thank the Golden State Warrior’s volunteers for supporting Sunnydale’s residents at the day-long energizing event.