San Pascual Elementary Gets a Makeover

Over 300 volunteers took a break from their busy nine-to-fives to take part in a beautification project at on Friday.

The project was coordinated by L.A. Works, a nonprofit volunteer center that partners with organizations and businesses to send volunteers to work on projects all over the city. On this day, they partnered with Deloitte, an international accounting and business management consulting company that took part in their 12th annual national day of volunteer service, known as Impact Day.

Lucky for San Pascual students, almost one-third of Deloitte’s L.A.-based employees made the trip to Highland Park to give the school a makeover, trading their computers and smart phones for paint brushes and shovels—if only for a day.

“I’m in the office all day long so Impact Day is nice because it’s a break and I get to interact with people, especially little ones,” said Sophia Gooden, executive assistant at Deloitte.

Volunteers took on various projects throughout the campus, including mural painting, landscaping, light construction and library organization. Students remained indoors while their school was transformed, but most didn’t mind skipping recess once they came out to enjoy a carnival staffed by Deloitte volunteers.

 In the midst of the crowd was San Pascual alumni and Deloitte employee Ray Estorga, who says he jumped at the chance to come beautify the school he attended.

“It’s a wild and crazy thing that I’m here giving back to my school like almost 20 years later,” said Estorga. “It touches the heart, you feel like a kid all over again.”

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