Garvin thomas good evening, and thank you so much for joining us. We begin our special with a story that might remind some of oldtime barn raisings, the kind of Community Event that doesnt happen anymore. Or does it . David perez is the man who made it all happen this time, thanks to the power of social media and the kindness of strangers. Garvin it was a great day at murphy court, all thanks to a bad view. David you can see theabove the garage and all. Garvin that view was out david perezs living room window of his neighbors home two doors down. David it was hard to watch. Garvin hard to watch his 75yearold neighbor trying to reroof his own home. David you know, just feeling sorry for that, you know, for somebody that age to be up there, trying to do it himself. Garvin problem was david knew next to nothing about roofing. But he did know a little about social media, so he snuck a picture of his neighbor and posted it on facebook, asking anyone who knew anything about roofing if they wanted to come by on saturday to help. His picture was shared more than 1,000 times. Still, he was worried people wouldnt show up at 9 a. M. He was right to be worried. They showed up earlier. David well, i woke up and i looked outside around 7 30, and noticed people were already on the roof. Garvin by midmorning, there was a crew of 20 on the roof, and donations of food enough for 50 waiting for them on the ground. They came from across the bay and down the street, almost none of them knowing david before this morning. They just wanted to help a neighbor help his neighbor. Bob valdez, a roofer with 18 years experience, brought his son with him all the way from tracy. Bob valdez weve got to show him in the right ways, the values of life, too. Garvin and in the middle of it all, watching it all, a little stunned, was the homeowner, richard dubille. Richard says hed been losing his faith in his fellow man over the years. And these folks, it turned out, werent just repairing his roof. They were repairing his soul. Richard dubille because i was getting pretty discouraged about what people want to do, and what people do to each other thats not good. And now, i can see that its not always that way. Garvin with so many hands, the work went quickly, and it was just after noon that the last shingle was ready to be laid. And they asked richard to finish what he had started. His roof, now ready to handle any water that may fall, be it rain in the winter or tears today. David its a little emotional, just all the people that came out and helped, and got it done so quickly, its amazing. Garvin the subject of our next story, San Francisco Police Officer Jason Johnson says he grew up in the east bay without a lot of positive role models. He swore, though, that if he ever got the chance, hed be that for other kids. Its a promise he is going Great Lengths to deliver on. Garvin when he first joined the force 7 years ago, San Francisco Police Officer Jason Johnson, just like every rookie, went through a probationary period. His was just about over when his captain conducted certainly the shortest Job Interview jason had ever been a part of. Jason he was like, well, what do you like to do . I said, i like kids. He was like, really . I said, yeah. Garvin turns out there was a Community Policing spot open at the willie mays boys girls club. Jason agreed to try it for a month, but came back to his captain the very next day. Jason he said, you said one day. I said, i know, but this isthis is where i want to be. Garvin jason, or officer jj as the kids call him, is now a fixture in their lives, not just at the club, but checking in on them at school or organizing a basketball tournament for them at a local church, anything to keep kids on the right path. Jason a lot of the kids i deal with on a daily basis, they are on the fence. They can turn bad, they can turn good, and they just need the direction. Jason whats up with you acting out yesterday . Garvin jason says, from that very first day, he knew working with the youth of the bayview was what he was destined to do. Jason just never knew how far that would take all of them, to africa, ghana to be exact. Two years ago, jason started operation genesis, a weeklong trip to ghana for a handful of bayview youth. He got the idea from a childhood friend who had moved to africa, and suggested it would be a powerful experience for the kids. Jason they all have this image or this definition of what being black is. And okay, i said, okay, you think thats being black . Lets go see what, originally, what it was like being black. Garvin jason says the impact has been remarkable. Students came back from that first trip more dedicated to their schoolwork, their families, and their futures. Jason it was phenomenal, the results was phenomenal. And we said weve got to keep it going. Garvin and that is just what jason has been doing, not just planning the next trip, but expanding the ways he can work with the kids back at home, improving their plans for the future while solidifying his. Jason this is absolutely the beginning, just the beginning. Garvin our next story is also about a journey, but a very different one. Its the story of how one man took millions of steps so another could take his first in years. Garvin youd think after 2,600 miles of hiking, after weeks of solitude and sometimes days without food, youd think finishing the Pacific Crest trail would have been eugene yuns favorite memory of the trek. Sure, it was nice, eugene says, but not the best. Eugene yun i could remember that moment like it was yesterday. I know exactly where i was standing. Eugene we did it. Garvin that came a couple of weeks earlier, somewhere in washington state. Eugene youre going to walk. Garvin to appreciate the moment, though, youve got to understand the back story. It all begins in a San Francisco nightclub parking lot in 2007, when a robber mugged and shot a 20yearold aspiring rapper from san leandro. The bullet severed arthur renowitzkis spine, but didnt touch his spirit. Arthur renowitzki and i want to let you guys know to never give up. Garvin arthur going on to become a fulltime advocate, speaking out against gun violence, and urging newlyparalyzed patients to not give up on their dreams, just as he wasnt giving up on his dream to walk again. All he needed was 80,000 to buy one of these, a robotic exoskeleton called rewalk, which is where eugene and the Pacific Crest trail come in. Learning about arthurs story via social media, eugene decided to hike the trail and raise that money for a man, at the time, he had never met. Eugene so good to see you. Garvin but the farther eugene travelled, the closer he and arthur got. And that moment on the trail, well, that was when eugene heard they had reached their goal and arthur had his rewalk. Of course, hearing isnt seeing. Eugene i cant believe this is happening. Garvin and thats why this day is perhaps the best of all. Eugene hes been fighting for 8 years to achieve this dream. And today, i will be seeing that. I dont know how to capture that into words. Garvin eugene has not seen arthur since finishing the trek. And he has never seen him do this. Eugene oh my god. Dude, i am so happy for you. Garvin thanks to eugenes kindness and determination, arthur can indeed walk. And thanks to his friendship, hell likely never walk alone again. Arthur i wouldnt be here, man, if it wasnt for you. Garvin coming up, a man brings a blast from the past back to life. Shaughnessy mcgee yeah, its my backyard, but i just kind of feel like a caretaker. Garvin why a backyard tribute to a longshuttered Amusement Park will now need new caretakers. But first. Cornell maier i think youre getting sleepy. Garvin the generous gift a man gives to bay area Childrens Hospital goes beyond dollars. One for first responders. But they dont always know if theyre successful. Dropping a patient off at the emergency room is many times the last they hear or see of them. Which explains why a Santa Clara County fire captain was so surprised by what he saw when he walked into a starbucks recently, surprised and brought to tears. Garvin youd think after 20 years on the job, Santa Clara County fire captain brent rapport would know a little bit about what to expect from a days work. Not so. No two calls, he says, are ever the same. Some, though, are better and more memorable than others. Brent you know, i have some great calls that ive been part of. And this clearlythis makes the top of my list. Garvin brent is talking about a call to a campbell home last september. Working as the engines paramedic that day, brent was rushed to a pregnant woman passed out. Brent she was grey. She was so pale, i couldnt believe it. I looked at her and i go, that lady is big sick. Garvin brent correctly recognized it as a ruptured ectopic pregnancy. The baby he knew was lost, but the mom could still be saved if his team got her to the hospital fast. Brent i remember we were going to the hospital, going as fast as we can, and the only thing i could do is put my hand on her head and say, im going to take good care of you, youre safe. Im not going to tell her its going to be okay because i dont know its going to be okay. Garvin brent handed the woman over to surgeons at good samaritan, never knowing what became of her. That is, until a year later, when brent randomly decided to treat his crew to some starbucks after a hard day of training. Brent and i look up and this woman sitting at me, looking at me, and itsshe had tears in her eyes. Sadie lowry because i wouldnt have been alive without him. You know, i mean, he saved my life. Garvin seeing sadie lowry alive was a pleasant surprise for brent, but not his only one that day. Brent and she goes, i want you to meet my son. And i looked down, there was a baby in the carriage. And what i didnt know, she had twins. You know, i thought she was just pregnant with one and lost the baby, and here was this beautiful baby boy that was there. Brent hi, partner. Garvin not sure if they had saved one life, brent now knows he and his crew saved two. Sadie brought the whole family by brents station recently to say thanks one more time. Brent says becoming a father himself almost a decade ago has made him a better firefighter, better at understanding whats at stake on each call. Its why perhaps brent broke down in tears in the middle of that starbucks, knowing he not only made the right choices that work day, but frankly all of his work days. Brent its the greatest job in the world. I dont know what else to say. I mean, i love it. Garvin our next story involves different types of generosity, all from the same man, and all to benefit the tiniest and sickest of children. Cornell i can prove to you that i was once young. Garvin over the course of any single life. Cornell a lot of people dont think i ever was. Garvin one is bound to have lived multiple lives. Cornell thats a b24 bomber there. Garvin in cornell maiers 90 years on the planet, hes lived more than a few. Cornell fiftyone missions out of italy. Garvin there was his time as a b24 navigator in world war ii. Then, there was the successful 4decade career at kaiser aluminum, retiring as the companys chairman and ceo. It was a part of life that was very good to cornell financially, and he has been good to others in return. Which brings us to ucsf benioff Childrens Hospital oakland and this latest chapter in cornells life. You see, over the years, cornell has been very generous with his donations to the hospital. Cornell id say several hundred thousand dollars. Garvin so many thousands, in fact, in the 1980s, the hospital ceo offered cornell a seat on the board of directors. Cornell and i said, im going to join you. He said, great. But i said, not as a director, but rather as a volunteer. Garvin turns out, for this part of cornells life, this is not the type of chair he wanted to sit in. This was, doing this, for them. Cornell i think youre getting sleepy. Garvin two days a week for the past twenty years, cornell has been coming to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at oakland children, volunteering to give premature and Sick Children doses of the wonderful medicine that is the human touch. Cornell youve got a good grip. Thats a good grip. Very nice. Garvin coming in at seven in the morning and staying as long as hes needed, cornell has not regretted his decision for a minute. He says in his life, he sat on enough boards to know what thats like, and its nothing like this. Cornell when im holding a little baby on my shoulder, and that warm little cheek is pressed against mine, thats as close to heaven as you can get. I mean, thats it. Some of my friends think thats as close to heaven as im ever going to get. Cornell okay, little buddy. Okay, yeah, youre all right. Garvin cornell understands, for all the money he has given, he could have asked for any number of rewards in return, but cannot imagine any of them being so rewarding. Cornell but i just think how beautiful and wonderful babies are to me, theyre just kind of a miracle. But i think how lucky i am to be holding them. Close those eyes and go to sleep. Garvin coming up, a gift of nostalgia comes to an end in the south bay. Plus, an east bay educator breaks down barriers with her creative solution to make special ed students feel included on the playground. Might remember Frontier Village, the western themed Amusement Park closed in 1980, an early victim of the rising price of land in silicon valley. But while the park is gone, Shaughnessy Mcgee found a way to keep its magic around for decades, but even that now is about to end. If Shaughnessy Mcgee ever builds a time machine. Shaughnessy this is one of the maps that they had. Garvin there are two things of which we are quite sure. First is where he would go. Shaughnessy so, the main entrance is here. Garvin second is that it would have to seat more than one. Shaughnessy here, ive got a replica of the Silver Dollar saloon. Garvin because what good is having a passion, shaughnessy believes, if you just keep it to yourself . Shaughnessy the biggest thing is that i wanted to share it with people. Yeah, its my backyard, but i just kind of feel like a caretaker. Shaughnessy i wanted to replicate the suspension bridge that they had, so i went ahead and made my own. Garvin what shaughnessy is caretaking are his and thousands of others childhood memories of Frontier Village, a san jose Amusement Park that closed in 1980. While shaughnessy figures as a kid, he visited fewer than ten times, it made a powerful impression. Shaughnessy you know, i used to spend, i mean, all night just dreaming about being there, and riding the rides, and getting to see different things. Shaughnessy this one, this is my favorite building that i did. Garvin so powerful that, 20 years ago, shaughnessy started building an homage to Frontier Village in his backyard. Ten years after that, he started buying original artifacts from the park, and incorporating them in his display, always opening it up to anyone wishing for a trip down memory lane. Shaughnessy and thats where the real reward is, is being here when its full of people and just watching their faces. Garvin but just as the real Frontier Village didnt last forever, neither will this one. The loss of his mother and a job has shaughnessy and his wife set to sell their home and move to oregon. Shaughnessy its finally setting in that, you know, i feel like the whole park is closing again. Come on in, we got hot dogs and beans over there. Garvin but not without sharing it one more time, shaughnessy opening the doors this past weekend to anyone hoping for a taste of the past. Male its a trip down memory lane. Its just awesome. Female this is amazing. Shaughnessy oh, well thanks. Garvin throughout the day, the smiles shaughnessy saw made him smile even more. And the stories people shared with him just confirmed what he already knew, that memories often last longer than the materials theyre made of. And when theyre such great memories, thats a good thing. Gavin coming up, a special ed teacher learns a lesson in thinking outside the box. Melissa abadia i mean, the core of it is the kids deserve it. Garvin what she did that gets her students to do what so many other kids take for granted. Who can name the third president . And the largest planet . Someone we havent heard from. Anyone else . When comcast offered lowcost highspeed internet to lowincome families, more than two million hands went up. And pretty soon, so did everyones in the classroom. Ok, veronica. Amphibian excellent internet essentials from comcast. Helping to bridge the digital divide. Getting students moving. A disability can make that a bigger challenge, both for the child and the teacher. Its an obstacle Melissa Abadia was struggling with until she decided to get creative and get some help. Melissa okay, so were going to do our yoga clocks. Garvin when she took the job 4 years ago, Melissa Abadia was well aware the title of it was adaptive physical education specialist. What melissa now admits she didnt understand was just how literal that word adaptive was going to be. Melissa i really was dumbfounded in the beginning. And i slowly learned that im supposed to build things for them. Garvin it started, melissa says, with a game as simple as kicking a ball. Melissa hey, raise your hand if you want the ball. Garvin simple unless theres a wheelchair involved. Not fair, thought melissa. Melissa i think thats my job. Like, i feel like thats the core of my job is inclusion and bringing these guys together. Garvin she came up with an idea of a device shed like to build, but didnt have the slightest clue how. Melissa i tried to contact some universities, engineering departments to see if studentsif a student project would take this on, didnt get anywhere. Garvin lucky for melissa, the next stop was San Franciscos tech shop and sam lamont. Melissa from the first, like, 10 minutes, he was so excited about this. Sam lamont im changing this guy out. Garvin its not in sams Job Description to actually work on clients projects for them, but this was special. Sam yeah, i have a 6yearold whos healthy, and i just wanted toyou know, if i could improve the lives of any child and make recess more fun for any child, thats, like, the best side job ever. Melissa there you go, dj, and go. Nice, dj. Garvin together, melissa and sam have created the kicker helper, melissa now perfecting her prototypes on the playgrounds and in the gyms of the San Leandro Unified School District melissa but its important. Like i justi mean, the core of it is the kids deserve it. You know, they deserve to have Something Like this. They deserve to do things independently, and to have success, and to feel part of the group. Garvin melissa says the looks on her students faces are what tell her shes working in the right direction. And once the kicker helper is perfected, shell probably be on the hunt for other barriers to knock down. Thanks so much for joining us for this bay area proud special. You can see new bay area proud stories every tuesday and thursday evenings in our 5 oclock newscast. And all the reports are on our website. Just go to nbcbayarea. Com and scroll down to the bay area proud segment. Have a good night. Extra extra. Blake shelton and gwen stefani go public as a couple at the cmas. I needed a bright spot this year. Justin timberlake goes country. And halle berry braves the cameras as her split from Olivier Martinez continues to dominate the head lalinesheadli Donald Trumps huge week. The war of the
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