This year the community service minded CSU Chico Student Chapter tackled a project at the Torres Community Shelter.
Chico State, SJSU Student Chapters Give Back Several AGC Student Chapters, including those at Chico State and San Jose State University, also continued their tradition of giving back with volunteer events and community projects not only this spring but all year long. Community service projects are a particularly strong tradi-
tion at Chico State and serve a dual purpose, according to 2023 student chapter President Luis Ojeda: providing students the satisfaction of helping others, while also offering the chance to gain valuable hands-on experience. “We are always looking for learning opportunities in gen-
eral, and community service is one of the best ways to get that hands-on experience, learning how to estimate, design, build and see (the project) through to completion,” Ojeda said. “More importantly, community service has always been a big deal to us here at Chico. A lot of contractors have a culture of giving back, and we try to foster that early with the students here so that when they are out in the industry they remember to always give back and continue that tradition and that culture.” Addressing the major issue of homelessness in the Chico area, this year the chapter tackled a project at the Torres Community Shelter. An estimated 15 students contributed nearly 230 worker hours over several weekends to build tent shade structures that were attached to repurposed Conex storage containers, designed to be used for temporary housing. Te student chapter gathered over $2,100 in donated material costs from a local contractor and shelter funds to complete the project.
A second, ongoing project at the shelter by the Chico State
Student Chapter is a planned 10-kennel dog facility. To date they have completed design programming, feasibility and cost study analysis, preliminary design and estimating for the project. A third project completed by the Chico State student chapter this year involved construction of a small 4 x 8 ft. shed to be used for the on-campus Child Development Lab. At San Jose State University (SJSU), the AGC of Cali-
fornia Student Chapter has forged a strong and ongoing relationship with Rebuilding Together, a nonprofit that is dedicated to maintaining safe homes and communities for all through with a mission of “repairing homes, revitalizing communities, rebuilding lives.” The SJSU Student Chapter has worked on several Rebuild-
ing Together projects around the Bay Area, including one with Swinerton during volunteer month on April 15, 2023. 2023 student chapter President Dylan Steidley noted
that volunteering on Rebuilding Together projects brings its own reward for students who participate, including building their technical skills and giving them experience “getting their hands dirty” working on projects. “I was surprised that on one of the projects we were
working on repairing a roof that was leaking water how much I learned,” he commented, “and giving back to the community in general is very fulfilling; there is just a lot of value in that.”
CALIFORNIA CONSTRUCTOR JULY/AUGUST 2023
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