Students voluteer at clean-up

Money raised will go to national and local groups

Despite Saturday's dreary weather, the 12th annual Hunger Clean-up drew between 35 and 40 students and raised almost $1,000 for local and national anti-hunger and homelessness funds, according to co-coordinator Erin Claflin.

"We were really happy about how it turned out," Claflin said.

The Clean-up is a nation-wide project structured to raise money for local and national charities and non-profit groups. Volunteers are sponsored by faculty, parents and friends for the time they spend volunteering. Half of the money raised goes to local groups, while the rest goes to national groups. The local organizations receiving funds are the Lorain Haven Shelter, Oberlin Hot Meals and Lorain Habitat for Humanity.

Oberlin's Hunger Clean-up was sponsored by Ohio Public Interest Resource Group (OPIRG), the College Democrats, several residence halls and other campus groups.

Volunteers were assigned to many different projects. According to Claflin some were impossible to carry out due to the rain, but others were not affected. Some projects included picking up litter from Plum Creek, painting at Prospect School, cleaning up the Eastlake School grounds, walking dogs and visiting nursing homes.

Sophomore Jamie Trnka, a team leader, visited the Welcome Nursing Home. She said the experience was a good one because it allowed for interaction between the College and town community. "It is nice to get out into the community and to be involved with members of the community," she said. She said the nursing home visit helped show the residents that "there are people interested in their lives and their needs - people genuinely interested in the community."

Before going to their various projects, volunteers assembled in Wilder Hall to hear a speech by Congressman Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio). Trnka called the speech "a little pep-talk about the importance of service."

"He gave a good speech about community service," Claflin said. "He got everybody kind of excited."