A couple of weekends ago, Comcast Cares Day came to Mar Vista Elementary School, where my son is currently enrolled in first grade. Each year, the good folks at Comcast sponsor community service events throughout the country, enlisting thousands of volunteers to help make their communities a better place. Comcast provides tools and materials, and actually also donates $10 per volunteer who shows up to help.

Mar Vista Elementary School was very fortunate to have been chosen this year, and we owe it to a Mar Vista Elementary school parent, Orlando Calderon, a Comcast employee, who nominated Mar Vista Elementary for the program this year. As it happens, Orlando came to my house and fixed an issue I was having with my high-speed Internet (the first issue I’d had in over 2 years of service) – and he doggedly stuck with it until the issue was resolved. It’s clear that Orlando really cares, about Comcast’s customers and our community as well.

It was great to see so many families from Mar Vista come out to participate in the event. Things got rolling around 7:30 AM, and a whole bunch of folks stayed for the entire day, with a break for lunch provided by Aptos Street BBQ. Lots of kids were out there working too. In an era of omnipresent iPads and other digital distractions, it was really refreshing to see so many kids happily and enthusiastically helping make their school a better place.

Comcast even got Supervisor Zach Friend out of bed early on a Saturday morning, leaving his wife and toddler son back at home, to come and give Principal Rich Determan a certificate from state senator Bill Monning, who, unsurprisingly, could not actually attend in person. I shot a little video of Zach’s remarks, which you can see below.

Zach Friend’s Remarks at Comcast Cares Day

This morning at the gym, I finished watching President Obama’s commencement speech for the 2016 class at Howard University. Say what you like about Obama’s politics, but the guy gives a good speech. What I took away from it is that your personal involvement in the community is really important. It’s not enough to sit and complain and refuse to participate because it’s futile or because the whole system is corrupt.

And I think this is what makes Aptos the amazing place that it is. People are engaged. People care. And you really saw that a couple of weeks ago at Comcast Cares Day. So thanks to Orlando Calderon, to Comcast, and to everyone who came out to help spiff up our school. You’ve helped make the world a better place, one shovel full of mulch and paint brush stroke at a time.