UWM Neighborhood Housing Office Recruits Student Volunteers for Clean-Up Event

On Friday, Oct. 4 the UW- Milwaukee Neighborhood Housing Office helped make the campus and surrounding neighborhoods a prettier place. The department held a Neighborhood Clean-Up event recruiting over 40 enthusiastic student volunteers who set out on a mission to pick up trash. 

In the weeks prior, it was hard to miss the 11 x 17 inch posters all over campus promoting the event. The billboard-sized banner in the UWM Union surely reached the eyes of many passing through. The department also plugged the event in their monthly student E-Newsletter. Those who registered would get a free t-shirt, lunch, and volunteer hours. The department’s advertising proved to be effective when the day finally arrived. 

At Spaights Plaza around 11:30 a.m., the Neighborhood Housing Office set up a table in preparation for the volunteers. The organizers set out free pens, wavers to be signed, and bright neon yellow t-shirts for the volunteers. As students put on their new t-shirts over their sweatshirts, another coordinator, Phil Pape, started to give instructions. He explained that one bag was to be used for general trash and compost, and the other for recyclables such as hard plastics and cardboard. He also made sure to emphasize that students DO NOT attempt to pick up broken glass or other sharp objects. Safety was key. Each volunteer was equipped with thick protective gloves and a trash grabber tool.  

One of the department’s organizers, Abby Christiensen, was hoping that this clean-up would be as successful as the previous. 

“Last time, the volunteers picked up over 80 bags of trash and recycling. I didn’t assume there was going to be that much considering we only had 60 volunteers,” said Christiensen.  

According to the Neighborhood Housing Offices, the event reeled in 44 volunteers who together picked up 26 36-gallon bags of trash. Although these numbers aren’t as high as their previous event, the Neighborhood Housing Offices are pleased with the turnout. 

It isn’t just about picking up litter, though. The Office hopes that students “engage in self-exploration, practice teamwork, and understand the importance of working together as a team/community by working with people of different ages, backgrounds, cultures or values.” The event inherently brings people together. 

“We want to build students’ relationships with neighbors in the neighborhood as well as building a sense of community and getting to know the area you’re living in and going to school in,” said Christiensen.  

The weather was certainly on their side that Friday. There were no clouds in the sky and by 12:30 p.m., there were over 32 people signed up and ready to clean. The students were sent off in groups of three or four, assigned to different perimeters of the neighborhood. They were to all meet up on Maryland Avenue under the bridge at 1:30 p.m for some free pizza from Pizza Shuttle.

UWM art student, Andrew Perry liked the idea of getting some extra steps in. 

“I like opportunity to get a little bit of exercise and move around. Also just to get out there and talk to people and see how they’re doin’,” said Perry. 

UWM biology major, Niki Tianis agreed.

 “I think it’s great to walk around the neighborhood and be in an environment where we should care about our earth and what’s going on around it,” said Tianis. 

Tianis and Perry were in a group together and enjoyed giving back to community while engaging in easy conversation with new people. They all found common ground talking about the new Joker movie.

Throughout the afternoon, the neon t-shirts that read, “#GoodNeighbor” could be spotted every few hundred feet from Edgewood Avenue up to Kenwood. At 1:30 they were all in a bright cluster under the bridge next to the steaming hot pizza. Before enjoying a slice, the volunteers dumped the contents of their heavy trash bags into trash bins and set aside their gloves. 

“I think that this event was really successful. We made some changes that really improved this event. This time we had participants pick a check-in time so the process was easier and I think the organization was better too,” according to one of the organizers, Justina Cheng.

If you missed this Clean-Up you have the opportunity to participate in the next one on Saturday, Nov. 9. Visit the UW-Milwaukee Neighborhood Housing Office’s website to register and sign up for their monthly E-Newsletter.

https://uwm.edu/neighborhoodhousing/