Treasures found at Homecoming clean-up

A dead squirrel and an nearly empty bottle of Jose Cuervo were among the treasure items found at the Volunteer Connection’s annual Homecoming Neighborhood Clean-up yesterday. 

SCSU students and members of the community collected enough garbage from the campus and the surrounding blocks to fill an entire dumpster, all while searching for unique items to qualify for the treasure contest.

Despite the morning’s snowy 35-degree weather, Cody Jones, a Volunteer Connection graduate assistant, said numbers of participants were still around the average amount expected compared to previous years. 

Many student organizations and teams joined in the clean-up as a team building activity.
Students and community members came alone and in small groups as well.

“We try to get four to six people in each group and then assign them a one to two block section to cover,” Jones said. 

In previous years, enough students participated in the clean-up to consider the outer blocks of the community as part of the clean-up as well. 

According to the map provided at the event, the blocks covered spanned from first avenue on campus to ninth avenue and from second street south to tenth street south.

The terrain covered ranged from the SCSU campus, the river walk, surrounding residential neighborhood and parking lots.

The motivation of the clean-up was not just to clean-up the neighborhood, but to find a piece of trash that could be considered a treasure. 

If a group found a unique piece, they could enter it in the contest for a chance to win a $25 gift card and their name on the hubcap plaque. 

In the past, treasures have included furniture, shopping carts, cell phones and car parts.
“One man’s trash is another man’s treasure,” a passing participant quoted the familiar saying as he continued along his assigned area.

Many volunteers present yesterday agreed that cleaning up the neighborhood is not only good for the environment, but helps shape the community’s view of the students at SCSU. 

Some volunteers yesterday said they thought the clean-up was a good way to change the negative way SCSU students are viewed are viewed by some people. 

“People will judge us no matter what, so when we do things like this, it’s like we’re saying ‘hey, we’re in this together,’” Jones said.

The volunteers also shared similar opinions including ones of self-gratifying motivation. 
“It is great to take part in an event like this.  It really makes you feel good,” said Volunteer Connection graduate assistant Shiyanke Goonetilleke.

Although many treasures were entered in the contest, the consensus among participants seemed to be real focus was on doing something positive for the community. 

“If we can inspire just one person by doing this, we have made a difference,” Jones said, recalling a previous year when two children saw them cleaning and joined-in because of it.