Despite Rain

Neither rain, nor lack of sleep, nor early hours will deter committed individuals from their community service actions, it seems. Early Saturday morning, 30 students from several campus groups travelled throughout the city to clean streets, serve meals to low income families and construct housing for sick children and their families. Marcine Pickron-Davis, assistant director of the program for student-community involvement, united the five campus groups in an effort to help alleviate hunger and aid in the cleanup of certain sites in West Philadelphia. Representatives of the Community Service Living Learning Program, the Kite and Key Society, Beta Alpha Psi, Alpha Chi Rho fraternity and Circle K all participated in the campaign. Last year, about 125 students took part in the cleanup, but only 30 were present for this year's effort. "This is a difficult weekend for volunteers because of Easter," Pickron-Davis explained. "However, next weekend would be impossible because of Spring Fling." Originally nine sites were targeted for aid, but the number was reduced to five because of inclement weather. Participants prepared food packages at the People's Emergency Center, helped construct and paint an addition at the Ronald McDonald House on 39th and Chestnut streets and helped paint and refurbish an area resident's home that had been targeted by the Episcopal Community Services. Some students also swept streets and cleaned up the area around a local school with Lulac, a Latino organization, and worked with Philadelphians Concerned About Housing. In addition to physical work, students solicited sponsors' monetary pledges. Half of the money raised from donations is sent to a third world country, according to Pickron-Davis, while the other half is sent to a student-selected service organization. All of the students involved said they participated in the event for different reasons, ranging from improving society to personal satisfaction. "This improves things for people because we can put a lot of hours in to insure people get good housing," said College freshman and Alpha Chi Rho brother Chris Bock. "I'm hoping to share some experience with my friends here and get a better first hand understanding of people's plights," explained Wharton senior Steven Foecking. Others cited more down-to-earth reasons for their involvement. "I don't look at things in some grandiose matter," College senior Matt Larson said. "I just want to help out."

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