Students volunteer in annual clean up project
Students, faculty and staff volunteered their time to help clean up the University of Indianapolis campus and surrounding area in the annual Great UIndy Clean-Up from 8:30 a.m. to noon on Saturday, April 14.
(Left) Madison Atkinson and (right) Greta Farlow weed a garden at the University Heights United Methodist Church on Hanna Ave. as part of the Great UIndy Clean-Up. Photo by Victoria Jenkins
The Great UIndy Clean-Up, which started in 2007, is now in its sixth year. Teams worked together to clean up the surrounding community by removing trash and other debris from campus and other buildings associated with the university.
“My group was in charge of cleaning up the Wheeler Arts Center,” said freshman English major Jordan Cox. “We did a lot of painting on the outside of the building as well as picking up trash on the outside.”
More than 100 volunteers were present for the event.
“The clean-up was really fun,” Cox said. “I really enjoy helping people and volunteering for different community projects. It just really makes me feel good to help out the community.”
The Campus Program Board and Community Programs Center worked together to put this event together for the campus and community.
Sites that were cleaned up included Campus Apartments, Hanna House, University Heights United Methodist Church, Wheeler Arts Center and many more.
Volunteers pulled weeds, picked up trash, groomed yards and completed beautification projects such as painting. Teams were created from the volunteers present and sent to specific sites to do the designated work. Some were sent out by bus, while others stayed closer to the university and walked to their sites.
“A majority of the volunteers were college-age students, but there were some staff and alumni present to help with the supervision of the different types of work being accomplished,” said freshman community health education major Ali Lemen.
The volunteers who helped were fed lunch and also received a free T-shirt to commemorate the event, display their hard work and show others the work they helped the community complete.
“It would really be great if we got more people involved,” Lemen said. “That way, we could cover more ground and clean more areas to help out more. The community and campus can really get all the help it can take.”
Many of the volunteers had fun with their friends while providing services for their campus and community.
“I would definitely help again next year with the clean-up,” Lemen said. “And I will encourage all my friends to help out, too, because I didn’t only help out but I had fun at the same time.”
