TEL HI Garden Transformed Through MLK Day of Service
February 2, 2026
On Monday, January 19 for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, TEL HI’s garden was transformed through a full day of service, collaboration, and community. From 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., volunteers from McCarthy Building Companies, Inc., DLR Group, and TEL HI came together to reimagine this beloved space that serves learners of all ages.
TEL HI was honored to be the beneficiary of McCarthy Building Companies, Inc.’s company-wide MLK Day of Service—a “day on, not a day off” that reflects Dr. King’s enduring legacy of service and collective action. This day also celebrated a partnership more than a decade in the making.
Volunteers replanted garden beds in new redwood planters, repaved an aging pathway, assembled a pond, built stackable wooden chairs, dismantled the old greenhouse, and constructed a new, modern structure designed to better support outdoor learning and accessibility.
McCarthy’s ongoing commitment to TEL HI includes its “Heart Hat Days”, which have brought hundreds of volunteer hours to our organization over the years. Notably, a major center refresh in 2011 helped give TEL HI’s North Beach building its signature red exterior, new windows, and more. We are also deeply grateful to DLR Group for contributing both professional expertise and hands-on volunteer support to our Garden Refresh Project.
The refreshed garden will remain a welcoming and accessible space for years to come, made possible by the power of partnership and community on a day dedicated to service.
Watch the transformation unfold in our MLK Day garden timelapse:
https://youtu.be/FnhsTbQq_yw
View photos from the day and relive the transformation:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1325202862967248&type=3
