SAP in white, UCC in black – we made a great team!

What a day yesterday! Over 30 volunteers from SAP joined us as we harvested acorns at the Del Valle Staging Area on Arroyo Road. The weather was perfect, people arrived on time, fully caffeinated and in great spirits, and we were ready for them!

The park is especially beautiful at this time of year, with the dark green of the oaks contrasting wonderfully with the tawny hills in the golden October light.

This tree yielded an enormous bounty of acorns.

Fall’s cooler temperatures make working outdoors a real pleasure. People took their time to find the best of the crop.

Sponsoring community engagement projects like this is a great way for businesses to build team spirit, give employees a chance to recharge their batteries, and give back to the community. Many thanks to SAP for helping make it happen, and to the volunteers who came out. Also special thanks to Hands On Bay Area, who helped bring SAP and Living Arroyos together.

Team 3, led by UCC apprentice Curtis Lewis (in the funny hat), show off the fruits of their labors.

Of course, we left plenty of acorns still on the trees for the woodpeckers, jays, and squirrels. But by the end of the day the group had collected over 10,000 acorns!  What a harvest!

The acorns are now safely packed and stored in a refrigerator, where they will wait to be planted. Some will go to the Stanley Reach, the site of last Saturday’s kickoff day. Others will be planted along other streams in the region. Someday they’ll shade our grandchildren.