UB's sunny and clear days may be numbered, but many students chose to spend Saturday rolling up their sleeves and cleaning up UB's North Campus before it is blanketed in snow.
Students tackled areas by Lake LaSalle, Jarvis parking lot and Letchworth Woods, according to Heather Schoff, a graduate assistant for community engagement.
Afterward, volunteers turned in their gloves and piled garbage bags full of beer cans, paper and even a rusty bed frame before heading inside to claim free pizza and a small gift.
The Center for Student Leadership and Community Engagement organized the event as part of its Saturdays of Service with sponsorship from UB Green.
Saturdays of Service are a monthly opportunity for students to get involved in reaching out and giving back to the community. Usually events are held off campus and involve projects around the Buffalo area, explained Schoff.
"UB Green provided us with bags, rakes, gloves and even a list of places on campus to clear garbage," Schoff said.
Schoff said all the garbage was divided so that it could be recycled or composted with the help of UB Green
"While we were cleaning up by the Audubon, people actually stopped and asked what we were doing," said Emmanuel Effah-Appiah, a freshman biology major. "I think people see us helping and it boosts them to help too."
Effah-Appiah was disgusted by the number of cigarette butts he picked up, especially after fellow volunteer, Kristin Ingleman, a senior geology major, explained that a single cigarette butt could wreak havoc on any water habitat.
"Other places on campus weren't bad, but I've never seen so much garbage as I did in Letchworth Woods by the dorms," said Lauren Valtin, a sophomore chemistry major.
Valtin recently became involved in service activities and saw the clean up as just another opportunity to give back.
Sireesha Chilkamarri, a graduate computer science student, said she had been seeking a more hands-on approach to leadership and appreciated the opportunity to lead by example.
"This is part of leadership week and can be used toward the leadership certificate," Chilkamarri said.
Bringing together community engagement and leadership was essential to coordinators.
"When you serve the community, you are being a leader by inspiring others," said Melanie Bentley-Cruz, Leadership Programming Coordinator of the CSLE. "Our motto is: To lead is to serve and to serve is to lead."
The Leadership Center's next Saturday of Service will be held on Dec. 5 in conjunction with the festival of traditions.
According to Bentley-Cruz, participation in the Leadership Certificate Program has boosted participation in activities such as the campus clean up, in which 25 students participated.
Bentley-Cruz said the leadership certificate program has been wildly successful in its first semester. Participants are given a leadership advisor and required to take part in both leadership training and community service
Schoff said that there were plenty of opportunities to hop in as a volunteer with the CSLE.
"Our next program is tree planting, and we plan to provide bussing to that event," Schoff said.
