The University News

Issue date: 4/7/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Sam Sheffield

UMKC students and Greek organizations helped clean up areas around Kansas City as UMKC had its biannual Community Service Day.

Students picked up trash, pulled weeds, trimmed bushes and even pulled down dead trees (pictured above) at and around Town Fork Creek Greenway.

"[We've been] cleaning up people's yards, cleaning up the parks," said Mary Beth Factor, Delta Zeta sorority president and senior in elementary education. "It feels good to actually help out the community."

People were in groups working on different projects as assigned by Kansas City Parks and Recreation workers.

Students had fun giving back to the community, but it was more than just having a good time.

"Fun is a byproduct of the hard work that we're doing today," said Spencer Williams, member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, courtwarming king and junior communication studies major, "but our main job is to come out here to help out the community and help out these fine gentlemen with Kansas City Parks and Rec[reation]."

Students also helped clean up around Satchel Paige Stadium, a youth baseball stadium, and helped do some landscaping work for the field and surrounding area.

"We try to give back to the community a little bit, this is a bit of a impoverished area of Kansas City, so we're just trying to help them out a little bit," said Sigma Alpha Epsilon President Brian Gettinger. "We cleaned up some of the stream, all the trash that builds up, old tires and a bunch of brush. [We're] trying to make it look a little nicer."

ssheffield@unews.com

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