The following blog post was written by Avanade alum Tony Obregon.

Over the weekend, a number of Avanade employees in Northern California participated in a special volunteer initiative in honor of Earth Day. The team came together to donate our time for a structured environmental project that helped restore and beautify Dimond Park in Oakland, California.

This year marks the 45th anniversary of Earth Day. All over the world, people come together to ensure we are doing all that we can to protect the environment. That includes preserving nature, ensuring vegetation and wildlife is thriving as well as conserving energy and using alternative energy sources.

The Avanade team joined forces with buildOn, a non-profit organization that is breaking the cycle of poverty, illiteracy, and low expectations through service and education. buildOn’s service learning programs mobilize students in challenging urban areas to lift up their communities through intensive local service. The organization runs programs at 50 high schools in seven regions across the US: Chicago, Detroit, New York, the Bay Area, Philadelphia, Boston and Southern Connecticut.

There were several projects scheduled that day but our group was chosen to save native plants along the Sausal Creek to help them thrive amongst non-native plants. We were matched with several local high school students who have been volunteering with buildOn for years. It was inspiring to see youth take such pride in their local parks and donate their time so freely.

Avanade team lead, Samantha Yapp, is looking into an ongoing partnership with buildOn for future events so that other Avanade teams across the US can participate in volunteer projects year round.

Want to join the millions of Americans who are working to make this planet a better place to live? It’s easy to take action! Here are some activities that you can easily do:

• Plant a tree
• Eat less meat
• Conserve water and energy
• Buy local produce
• Recycle and reuse

EarthDay.org has set a goal to reach 2 billion “acts of green” so visit the website and share what you’re doing to protect the planet. And remember, we need to protect our planet every day, not just on Earth Day.