UW-Milwaukee’s Russian Club Hosts Neighborhood Cleanup

On most mornings, Maren Hawkins, a PhD student in UW-Milwaukee’s Department of Public Health, is eyes deep in coursework. However, on October 10, she and six other members of UW-Milwaukee’s Russian Club spent the afternoon doing a neighborhood cleanup around campus, and they’re not the only ones picking up after their communities. 

“It’s a small thing, but people need to pick up after themselves,” Hawkins said. 

This is the first time that UW-Milwaukee’s Russian Club has hosted a cleanup, but over the course of just an hour, the group managed to collect about five full bags of trash. The bags, which included items ranging from old clothing to a Corona beer, were grabbed by the volunteers around the Golden Meir Library, Spaights Plaza, North Prospect Avenue and North Farwell Avenue.  

However, the event extended past just picking up trash around campus. According to Dr. Meghan Murphy-Lee, a Russian language professor in UW-Milwaukee’s Department of Foreign Languages, the event provided the underclassmen-filled houses around campus with a good model on how to act during COVID-19.  

“It’s good that people saw us doing this,” said Murphy-Lee. “Seeing us wear gloves, masks and cleaning up the streets sets a good example for others.” 

The Russian Club isn’t the only group taking to the streets to look after the community, though. In September of this year, the World Cleanup Day Organization hosted their annual international cleanup day. According to a press release, the event drew in millions of people from 158 countries. 

“World Cleanup Day 2020 has shown the power of individual and collective strength to stand for a clean and healthy planet,” said Heidi Solba, president and the head of Let’s Do It World Network in a press release. 

Although this weekend’s event wasn’t part of the initiative from the World Cleanup Day organization, it had a similar effect.

“Some of the streets we cleaned up definitely look better than they did before,” said Kane David Stratman, a graduate student at UW-Milwaukee and Russian Club’s treasurer.  

These events also have a noticeable effect on communities as a whole. In the Community Tool Box, an educational resource designed to teach people how to organize community development that’s written by the University of Kansas, community cleanups contribute positively to the places where they happen. 

The guide cites several specific reasons that these events should occur. According to the guide, cleanups can instill neighborhood pride, give people of all demographics the chance to get involved, increase quality of life in a neighborhood, and they can even reduce pollution. 

Cleanups have a monetary benefit. The Keep America Beautiful organization reported that as a result of their cleanups during 2019 alone, participants returned more than $100 million in measurable benefits across in 15,000 communities. With that number only representing one organization’s effort, the financial benefit of these events is likely much higher. 

Furthermore, these types of events are one of the only ways for communities to interact face-to-face during COVID-19.  

“We wanted to have an in-person club event,” said Hawkins, who also acts as Russian Club’s vice president. “And this is pretty much the only thing you can do while wearing masks and maintaining social distancing.” 

With all this in mind, Russian Club plans to host another cleanup event next month to help improve their community, and the date for the World Cleanup Day 2021 has already been announced. 

“Any block in Milwaukee could benefit from a once-over,” said Ben Mulick, Russian Club’s secretary, while holding a large bag of garbage.