Editor’s note: The article was originally published by Lily Fleming, Features Editor. https://timesdelphic.com/83529/features/spruce-up-day-embraces-community-service-legacy/
Students and community members walked in groups around the Drake neighborhood armed with trash pickers and clothed in gloves, with the goal of beautifying the neighborhood.
For the annual Fall Paul Morrison Spruce Up Day, the Student Alumni Association invited students to take to the neighborhoods surrounding campus and clean up the community on Sept. 27. Paul Morrison, also known as “Mr. Drake,” was a Drake employee and alumnus who left a lasting mark on the school.
Senior Emerson Whittemore, executive vice president of the Student Alumni Association, said that the event honors Morrison’s legacy.
“Every single day on [Morrison’s] way to work — he worked at Drake too — he would pick up trash on his way,” Whittemore said. “And that was just kind of his way to give back to the place that gave him so much.”
Whittemore said that Morrison’s daughter occasionally comes to the event to carry on her father’s legacy.
The event supports the pillars that the Student Alumni Association upholds, which are traditions, philanthropy and alumni connections.
“We have opportunities for students to connect with alumni so that — they’re students today, alumni forever — they can forge that connection as soon as possible,” Whittemore said.
Members of student organizations and individuals volunteered at the event. According to Whittemore, there were around 60 volunteers this year. Most of the volunteers come from fraternity and sorority life, which requires a threshold of volunteer hours from their members.
Abdiel Gallardo and Wesley Kaye both volunteered through Sigma Alpha Epsilon after their social chair shared it with the fraternity group chat as a service opportunity. SAE members need ten service hours per semester, and try to go above the national average.
“I love volunteering, personally, I’m on the philanthropy board — I’m not a chair or anything, but whenever there’s stuff like this, I’d love to show up or at least get some of the other guys to go to it as well,” Gallardo said.
Kaye said that the opportunity was a great way to explore the Drake neighborhood, beyond just campus.
“It just matters because if no one else is going to do it, someone has to,” Kaye said. “No one wants the neighborhood to look like it has trash everywhere. It’s just nice to give back in a way that you can with whatever time you have.”
Gallardo enjoyed the activity, appreciating that it branched past the typical campus grounds into neighboring areas.
“I love cleaning up trash, and so whenever I had to leave anything behind, I get, like, kind of upset, a little upset about it,” Gallardo said.
Whittemore said she hoped that the event would allow attendees to connect with the Drake neighborhood and community.
“Because our campus is so small, sometimes it can be easy to just stay on campus, stay in the on-campus buildings and not really connect with what’s outside of it,” Whittemore said. “But I feel like this event is a really good way to chat with new people, get to know all the different places around campus, obviously clean it up, which is good for the environment, good for everyone.”
Lily Wasserman contributed to writing.
