April 16, 2004

Students to help clean up, spruce up community

by Tom Woolf

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Southern Illinois University Carbondale students will mark National Volunteer Week by sprucing up the local community.

National Volunteer Week, April 18-24, is a 31-year-old tradition that designates a special time to recognize and celebrate the efforts of volunteers across the country. The Points of Light Foundation selects the dates for the observance.

At SIUC, Student Development's Saluki Volunteer Corps and the Beautify Southern Illinois Student Alliance are partnering with Carbondale Main Street and the Women's Center of Carbondale to sponsor a clean-up event on Saturday, April 24.

"This is an opportunity for us to do something positive for the community," said Mythili K. Rundblad, Student Development coordinator.

The event is open to all SIUC students. Interested students, as well as Registered Student Organizations, must sign up in advance at the Student Development office on the third floor of the Student Center. The first 200 to sign up will receive a specially designed T-shirt commemorating the event.

Volunteers will meet in the fourth floor Video Lounge of the Student Center at 9 a.m. for orientation, then head out to their assignments at 9:30 a.m. Plans call for participants to do some landscaping in downtown Carbondale and to paint and landscape at the Women's Center in Carbondale. Activities should wrap up around 12:30 p.m.

To show its appreciation for their efforts, the University will treat all volunteers to pizza and soda.

For more information, call the Student Development office at 618/453-5714.

Encouraging students to provide service to the community is among the goals of Southern@150, the blueprint for the development of the University by the time it celebrates its 150th anniversary in 2019.