Photo provided

In what could be considered a prelude to the annual Orinda in Action Community Day, the Orinda Better Homes and Gardens Mason-McDuffie Real Estate office participated in a company-wide 'Giving Day' Project on March 5th. The realtors met behind La Cucina to work with members of the Friends of Orinda Creeks at cleaning and clearing the banks along the creek, from the Chevron station to the Bank of America building. The Friends' ultimate goal is to create an attractive walking path along the creek with benches and pleasant areas for lingering, but that will take a few years.

The group numbered about 25 in all and after having some fresh coffee, donated by Peet's, and bagels, everyone spread out and got to work. Their tasks included removing litter, as well as other objects including an old vacuum cleaner and fluorescent bulbs, cutting back invasive plants such as ivy and raspberry bushes, trimming dead branches from trees, and spreading bark chips. Thankfully, the weather cooperated and was perfect for this kind of work, with partial clouds and cool temperatures. Just over three hours of labor produced two huge piles of green waste, a few large bags of items for recycling, and more bags and bins of trash. It was a productive and rewarding day for everyone and brought the Friends of Orinda Creeks a little closer to their ultimate goal.

All 36 local offices of Better Homes and Gardens donated time and resources to work on designated projects for some 30 charities in their local communities on that day.