On Sat. May 6, the 14th Annual Sharefest Workday took place, in which 42 improvement projects occurred throughout the South Bay. Red stripes were painted on the first and last steps of the staircases on campus as part of the Workday.

According to Sharefest partnerships manager, Kyle Aube, the goal of the organization includes making positive change in the South Bay and preparing youth for leadership in their communities.

“The overall mission of Sharefest is to build strong South Bay communities by fostering volunteerism and preparing youth to lead positive change,” Aube said. “For the Workday specifically that involves bringing out community members as volunteers to give back to a community through beautification and improvement projects and to build relationships with people and the recipients of the projects that they are going to.”

Through the Youth Development Academy, Sharefest is responsible for teaching youth to be the leaders in the future.

“The youth side of that is accomplished through our Youth Development Academy programs which take place year round in four different continuation high schools during the summer months at Cal State Dominguez Hills where we bring out about 250 students to focus on leadership development and other skills,” Aube said.

Assistant principal Bryan Ines, who was in charge of organizing volunteers for the project, said it was an opportunity for students and parents in the community to work on something together.

“The Sharefest event allows the community to come together to work on one project that we have been approved for,” Ines said. “We are going to be painting red stripes on the first and last steps in order to make it more uniform across the school. It’s something that we thought was going to be a great project for us.”

According to Ines, the project is important because it helps to create a feeling of pride in the community.

“I think it’s really it’s really important. For one, we all want to take pride in our school. And whenever we see something being done by the community, it’s like there is a lot more pride,” Ines said. “When I was a student, I did a lot of projects like this, and I really loved the fact that I could go back to certain parts of the community and say, ‘I remember working on that.’”

Along with making the school more uniform, Ines said that the project’s goal was to establish a sense of community on campus.

“The overall goal of this project is to build comradery, build new friendships and to really emphasize the community aspect of this school,” Ines said.

According to Aube, although projects such as this may seem daunting at first, they are made possible through the combined effort of a group of community volunteers.

“I think one of the most important things that we try to teach is that when you bring volunteers together and you put in the effort, while a lot of these projects that we receive seem massive, you are powerful and you can accomplish a lot,” Aube said. “It’s really about building those relationships and learning that giving back to your community is worth it. Seeing the finished products of everyone’s hard work is really rewarding.”

Besides the Annual Workday, the Sharefest Youth Development Academy teaches students year-round and focuses on leadership development and other skills.

“Sharefest is more than just the Workday,” Aube said. “We’re teaching our students year round the value of giving back and how to lead service projects like this. I think that the overall takeaway is that people can give back to their communities with just a little bit of effort, and, once they team up with a lot of people, you can really make a positive change on the lives of many others.”

Through projects such as the one which occurred in Redondo Beach, Sharefest hopes to teach what a group of community volunteers can achieve if they work together.

“I think one of the most important things that we try to teach is that when you bring volunteers together and you put in the effort, while a lot of these projects that we receive seem massive, you are powerful and you can accomplish a lot,” Aube said. “It’s really about building those relationships and learning that giving back to your community is worth it. Seeing the finished products of everyone’s hard work is really rewarding.”

Aside from the Workdays, Sharefest is largely invested in their Youth Development Academy, which teaches students year round at four different continuation high schools throughout Los Angeles County. It also have summer program in which students develop their leadership skills.

“Sharefest is more than just the Workday,” Aube said. “We’re teaching our students year round the value of giving back and how to lead service projects like this. I think that the overall takeaway is that people can give back to their communities with just a little bit of effort, and, once they team up with a lot of people, you can really make a positive change on the lives of many others.”