Student groups come together to clean up

More than 30 students participated in a spring cleaning of the Spruce Hill community just west of the University Saturday morning. As the group assembled before splitting up to perform a variety of community service projects, Spruce Hill Community Association Vice President Sharif Ali spoke about the history of the area. Ali also discussed the importance of taking pride in the Spruce Hill community and preserving its historic landmarks. He said the event represented a merging between students, residences and businesses. "People view the campus as separate from the community, but we are all members of the same community," he said."The more we realize that, the more we can work together to improve Spruce Hill." Undergraduate Assembly member and College sophomore Meredith Hertz planned the event, along with College sophomore and UA member Tal Golomb and West Philadelphia Improvement Corps (WEPIC) co-chairperson Dave Slarskey, also a College sophomore. The students divided into several groups, going out to various sites in West Philadelphia. They spent the afternoon doing community service that ranged from picking up trash and sweeping sidewalks to painting fences and whiting out graffiti. According to College freshman Melina Begun, an event coordinator in the Office of Community Relations, the purpose of the event was to bring the University and the surrounding community together. "Penn students have to realize that we do live in a community," she said. "The University is part of Spruce Hill, and all students should participate in cleaning up because we are residents of the community." The students who participated said they hoped to give back to the community what they had already received. College sophomore Karen Man heard about the cleanup through the Chinese Students Association and thought it would be a good way to help clean up the area around the University. "It's a good project because you can feel like you are giving something back to the community for once instead of just taking from it," Engineering and Wharton sophomore Peter Chowla said. And College freshman David Futer called the event a "good cause." "But it's too early in the morning to say anything coherent," he added. Hertz and Golomb said that they were pleased with the event's turnout. "It was great to see so many groups collaborating to clean up the area and take responsibility for cleaning up our community," Hertz said. "We did a lot of good and I hope we can plan more activities like this in the future." The UA, United Minorities Council, Kite and Key Society, WEPIC, Penn Friends and Students for Neighborhood Involvement and the Senior Class Board co-sponsored the project.