A sea of red cups and bottles litter the streets of the University Heights on a weekly basis, leaving a stark reminder of the student parties that have occurred over the weekend.
Helping the Heights, a new program of the Neighbor to Neighbor Campaign, is bringing student volunteers together to clean up the University Heights post weekend chaos and improve relations with the Buffalo community.
The initiative, funded by the Office of Community Relations, supplies trash bags and gloves to students who voluntarily gather to pick up garbage every Sunday.
Linwood Roberts, a neighborhood outreach coordinator, explained that the program began this year as part of a positive transformation in the area by both university and resident communities.
"What we're trying to do is let the students know that we're all members of this community and that they should be a good neighbor on campus as well as off," Roberts said.
The program recruits volunteers to do community service with the Office of Judicial Affairs & Student Advocacy. They are partnered with a community representative from the University Heights Collaborative (UHC) who leads them to particular areas that need attention.
"As a community resident you don't want to wake up every morning and see trash on your lawn when you didn't have a party, whether it be the wind blowing it or students dumping it," Roberts said.
Marty Marusewski, a member of the UHC, is a representative for the program. Within the initial hour of Marusewski's tour around Englewood Avenue, he immediately noticed a significant difference in appearance thanks to students from the Alpha Gamma Delta (AGD) sorority he was guiding.
"Englewood is one of the worst streets," Marusewski said. "Coming from Main Street, it is the difference between day and night."
Lourdes Santana, a sophomore nursing major and coordinator for AGD campus relations, said her group found the experience rewarding.
"Today was more than just picking up trash around the Heights. Today was a day that we actually got a chance to see firsthand why helping the Heights is needed," Santana said.
Ashlee Hoover, a junior biological science major, said that while picking trash off a lawn she and her sorority sisters were approached by a resident who thanked them for cleaning the community his family has lived in for over 50 years.
For Stephanie Brescia, junior photography major and AGD member, clearing away cups, bottles and cans from the Heights was also cleaning up the reputation of campus fraternities and sororities.
"Greek life never really had a great rep. I think it's good to do, proving that we're not all just a bunch of drunk slobs," Brescia said. "We do party here, it's only right that we clean up."
Greeks aren't the only ones signing up to keep communities around UB clean. According to Roberts, residence halls and undergraduate academies are also awaiting their turn to pitch in.
The program is a yearlong event held every Sunday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. with a winter break from November through February.
