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Caring for Community: School of Data Science and Yancey School Community Center Join Forces
The School of Data Science partnered with United Way of Greater Charlottesville for their third annual Day of Caring event in collaboration with Benjamin Franklin Yancey School Community Center.
Ed Brooks, program coordinator of Yancey School Community Center, directed data science team members in tending to Yancey’s community gardens. Volunteers worked together to lay down mulch, pick up litter, and restore flowerbeds.
Brooks ensures that Yancey Community Center maintains the legacy of its former title, Benjamin Franklin Yancey Elementary School, by providing volunteers with lunch, followed by a tour and brief history of the building.
Yancey closed its doors as an elementary school in 2017, though its hallways are still decorated with the artwork of its former students and filled with library books that have been well-loved by generations of children.
Two years later, the Yancey Community Center was established, housing multiple non-profit organizations including a food pantry, GED adult education classes, and a family health clinic, as well as the community garden.
Yancey also serves as a rental space and polling destination for local residents.
“Yancey was the heart of the community even when it wasn’t officially a community center,” Brooks says. “The activities today have broadened the definition of community with the garden and the resident social service agencies.”
Brooks believes Day of Caring is important because it introduces Yancey Community Center to a wider audience of people – and in doing so, expands knowledge of Yancey and its history beyond southern Albemarle and throughout central Virginia.
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Emma Candelier, director of communications at the School of Data Science, had a wonderful time volunteering at Yancey Community Center's Day of Caring event.
"We enjoyed partnering with Yancey and learned a lot about the school's history and community center activities," said Candelier. "It was a beautiful day to step away from work and spend a few hours in their garden."
To learn more about Yancey School Community Center, follow them on Facebook or email Ed Brooks.
