Kaiser Permanente employees volunteer on MLK Day holiday

Kaiser Permanente Walnut Creek surgeon Alison Savitz, MD, joined a team of Kaiser Permanente South San Francisco health care workers trying to rehabilitate an aging garden at the Alto Loma Middle School on Monday. The Kaiser Permanente volunteers were keeping alive the legacy and vision of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

The garden was muddy and a little overgrown, but the Kaiser Permanente team was building new planting beds using concrete blocks, fresh wood, and clean soil.

“Part of Kaiser Permanente’s mission is to help our members and the communities we serve, so we are here to help in any way we can,” Savitz said.

The theme of community echoed throughout the Martin Luther King Day holiday as the Kaiser Permanente volunteers rebuilt the garden, organized a school room to store student uniforms, and repainted the basketball courts in the school yard.

“It’s beneficial for the community and I want to help out,” said Tina Kan, MD, a Kaiser Permanente South San Francisco anesthesiologist.

At the school, San Mateo Congressman Kevin Mullin joined the Kaiser Permanente volunteers repainting the basketball courts.

“Instead of a day off, we have a day on,” said Mullin in tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. who spent his life working to better the lives of others.” “As Dr. King said: Everybody can be great because everybody can serve.”

Mullin had his 6-year-old twin boys painting with him to teach them the value of service, he said. While the Mullin family and other Kaiser Permanente volunteers repainted the courts, others from the South San Francisco Medical Center organized a room where school uniforms are stored.

Alta Loma Principal Nina Mendez was grateful for the volunteers.

“When the students come back on campus and they see there’s a community that really cares and is invested in them, it makes a large impact on our students,” said Mendez, who added that the students also need to feel they are part of that community.

This year, to honor the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr., the Kaiser Permanente Northern California region is offering multiple employee volunteerism opportunities in different locations, such as school playground refurbishments and park beautification projects.

The many volunteering opportunities include work at a food bank in Santa Rosa, volunteering at the Manteca Boys & Girls Club, support for a family shelter in Fresno, and clean-up work on the Richmond Greenway.