Crunching leaves and chainsaws echoed throughout the Buffalo community this past weekend as over 325 UB students pulled together to aid in clearing the remaining debris from last week's storm. They returned home wet and muddy, but satisfied with their work.
The students were broken up into groups and tackled the University Heights area and Delaware Park.
Junior English and French major Kate Dunning, a resident advisor in Richmond Hall, collaborated with Heather Schoff, a graduate student in the Student Affairs administration to organize the event through the Leadership Development Center.
Word about the event spread quickly, and by 2 p.m. Friday 325 students had signed up to work one or more of the shifts, and more e-mails were pouring in.
"It moved from one listserv to another and took on a life of its own, which I think is indicative of how much people want to help in the aftermath of the storm," Dunning said. "It just sort of rolled from there."
Student Affairs and Student Life pitched in as well, and Vice President for Student Affairs Dennis Black made sure three busses were available to transport students to and from the designated areas on Saturday and Sunday.
Saturday morning alone, a group of 50-plus students cleared an entire area of the north side of Delaware Park. Students worked alongside members of the the Buffalo Olmstead Parks Conservancy, who are in charge of the maintenance of over 1200 acres of parks in the Buffalo community. The BOPC came with chainsaws and hard helmets to ensure everyone remained safe, and with trucks that began collecting piles of limbs along the roads inside the park.
Dressed in dark blue volunteer t-shirts over hooded sweatshirts and jackets and working in three-hour shifts, the students were relatively silent as they dragged limbs and branches to the side of the road. Students who had never met before worked together to complete the challenging task, warning each other of potential loose limbs overhead.
"The park was the first thing I thought of when I saw the tree branches down on my street," said Alex Meglin, a sophomore media production major. "I was really happy we had the chance to come and help out here in the community."
Meglin volunteered with her friend Sarah Hofheins, a sophomore English and art major, who often takes her dog to Delaware Park.
"We cleaned up so much in such a short amount of time," Hofheins said. "I'm surprised how fast it went."
Laura Quebral-Fulton, director of strategic initiatives with the BOPC and UB alum, was glad to see students from her alma mater make an effort in the clean up. She said it would have taken a week or two to clear what the students did in two and a half hours.
"We want to be able to open the parks as soon as possible so people can use them. It's a big part of their lives," Fulton said.
A combination of sub-contractors and city workers will collect the limbs, Fulton said. Later, they may be converted into mulch or sent to power companies as fuel, but for now the wood will simply be stock piled.
"I couldn't believe how bad it was," said Matt Williams, a junior physical therapy major who volunteered on his own. "I feel like I accomplished a lot."
"It was definitely a good workout," said Kristie Struzik, a senior engineering major. "With as many people who come to our school, there should have been more people here."
Rebecca Anderson, a junior sociology major and member of SA Urban Renewal, traveled to New Orleans during spring break and again over the summer to aid in the disaster relief. No stranger to dirty work, she was out in the University Heights community two days after the storm and in Delaware Park this past weekend.
"They're both totally different, but it's still devastated here," Anderson said. "There's a lot to be done," she said.
Dunning lead a group of students near South Campus in the disaster relief.
"Basically we're going up and down the streets," she said. "We're trying to help out the residential areas because a lot of people out here still don't have power."
The non-profit organization Street Synergy Community Association Inc., located at the corner of Bailey and LaSalle Avenues, worked alongside the students, providing hot food and chain sawing especially dangerous fallen limbs.
Dunning said residents appreciated the helping hand, and emerged from their homes with heartfelt "thank yous."
"We can clear out in 20 minutes what it would take them hours or days to do," Dunning said. "I think people are really grateful for that. It's not like people have tons of free time to be cleaning up after the storm."
"Some of these yards you walk into and its like walking into a wall of brush," she said.
Dunning said the LDC plans on extending the clean up efforts next week, especially on campus once the university has assessed that it is safe for students to work.
"Probably a lot of people had sore muscles today after working yesterday, but I don't think anybody really cares," Dunning said. "It just feels good that we got so much work done."
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
