Contractor Builds New STEM Lab and Garden for Boys & Girls Club

SAN DIEGO (July 23, 2014) — Employees of McCarthy Building Companies Inc., a commercial builder in San Diego, recently teamed with a group of consultants and subcontractors to give the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater San Diego (BGCGSD) what it needed most: a new STEM (science technology engineering mathematics) lab and outdoor garden area at its Ron Roberts Family Branch in Linda Vista, located at 2230 E. Jewett St., San Diego.

Accomplished within four weeks, the project entailed demolition of the old space and tenant improvement remodeling of two rooms encompassing 1,372 square feet, previously used as multi-purpose space, plus a small room that has been converted to a robotics Lab. The new STEM lab features flooring, walls, built-in desks and cabinetry in a neutral palette of earth tones, with a lime green accent wall that complements the green lab stools. Cummingham Group served as the interior space planner and designer.

“The new STEM Lab is critical to the development of our youth to be successful in the future,” said BGCGSD President Danny Sherlock. “The early adoption and hands-on training of STEM education will help our members be comfortable with principles of STEM trades, thus making an easier transition to a STEM-related field of study in secondary education or as a career option. We thank the McCarthy team and their partners in helping us fulfill our vision for this STEM lab.”

In the backyard of the building, McCarthy’s work crews cleared the existing landscaping, re-graded the site and installed a retaining wall and mulch for the club’s new vegetable garden, which will be planted and cared for by the children. Work crews also installed soil, brick border, concrete pavers, sod, shrubs, bark and an all-new irrigation system in the backyard.

“The Clubs’ healthy lifestyle program is one of our three priority outcomes,” Sherlock added. “We now have an area that will provide an engaging outdoor activity for our members. Gardening is a wonderful way to involve children in a healthy hobby, and one of the most important things about gardening is the understanding of where food comes from. Thus, our kids are exposed to new and different things, while improving their range of healthy eating choices.”

McCarthy, Cunningham Group and the project subcontractors donated all time and materials, valued at $187,410. UMEC handled plumbing, with McCarthy and ValleyCrest Landscape digging outdoor trenches. Pecoraro completed painting; Arrowwoods, casework; DOW Diversified, lab casework; DFS Flooring, carpet and VCT resilient-type flooring; McCarthy, doors; ISEC Inc., furniture; and UMEC, HVAC. McCarthy and ValleyCrest Landscape handled design and installation of landscape and irrigation.

“The McCarthy team is the hardest working, most dedicated group we’ve ever partnered with,” said Joe Sorenson, BGCGSD Ron Roberts Family Branch manager. “Our kids and their parents know this team went above and beyond their already generous donation to ensure that everything in our STEM lab was done to their highest standards. The McCarthy employees put their hearts into this project and that absolutely shows through in the final product.”

The STEM lab and garden project was performed by McCarthy for the Boys & Girls Clubs as part of its “McCarthy Heart Hats” program, which is dedicated to encouraging, supporting and recognizing McCarthy employees’ volunteer efforts for a variety of causes to ensure real needs are being met in communities where the company’s employees live and work. In addition to recognizing outstanding employee volunteers and providing a companywide paid volunteer day, McCarthy Heart Hats volunteers donate countless hours of in-kind services and monetary contributions to improve communities each year.

To decide where best to put forth this year’s volunteer efforts, a committee of eight McCarthy employees in the company’s San Diego office interviewed five local nonprofit organizations and determined the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater San Diego was the best fit. The majority of employees at McCarthy’s San Diego office had indicated that children are their highest priority among the many good causes, and this particular project was an opportunity to team with subcontractors to make the most impact and best use of their volunteer time.

“Giving back to and strengthening our local communities is at the heart of what being a community-based builder is all about,” explained McCarthy Senior Vice President Bob Betz. “This effort was the perfect way to look to the future and enrich the lives of just some of those children who will help our communities grow and thrive in the years ahead of us.”