UC Green kicks off as U. goes Into the Streets

Volunteers spruced up blocks around campus during the annual event. For the past 1 1/2 years, the University worked to light up University City streets through the UC Brite initiative. Now officials are turning their efforts to a similarly named program to make the surrounding area more aesthetically pleasing. The project, UC Green, is designed to plant trees, flowers and shrubbery in the area around campus. It is the successor to UC Brite, a program which partially funded residential lighting replacements throughout University City until it ended last month. Although officials began organizing UC Green about three months ago, it did not make major progress until Saturday, when 42 students from Kings Court/English House planted gardens, pruned trees and pulled weeds on several blocks near campus. UC Green was just one of dozens of community service projects students participated in as part of the eighth annual Into the Streets day. Kings Court/English House Dean Krimo Bokreta, who has participated in several Into the Streets events, said UC Green "was one of the most successful" of the programs he had done. "You could see directly at the end of the day that you made a difference," he said. After helping to give a makeover to the 4100 block of Chester Avenue, the 3900 block of Baltimore Avenue and the 4000 block of Pine Street, the Kings Court/English House students are planning on "adopting" one of the areas so they can continue to work on it throughout the year. University officials hope that all 12 college houses will participate in UC Green by adopting an area to spruce up. Most of the group worked from midmorning to midafternoon. Esaul Sanchez, the University's director of neighborhood initiatives and the head of UC Green, said they made significant progress. "[If you put] a price to what we've done, it would be very high," he said. The students were among the 600 Penn students from all 12 college houses who volunteered Saturday for Into The Streets. The other volunteers planting on Saturday were from community groups including Baltimore In Bloom and the University City District as well as Penn's Landscape and Maintenance Department. Two landscapers from the National Park Service also helped. Baltimore In Bloom has already adopted Baltimore Avenue as a "greenway" and is responsible for watering and taking care of the gardens planted there. With the help of Gus Ordel, one of the top tree-climbers in the country, volunteers also helped to cut down several dead trees. The group also planted gardens on Chester and Baltimore avenues, with the latter block housing three gardens made up of native American plants. Russells Gardens of Churchville, Pa., donated more than $1,000 worth of plants for the gardens. Other funding for Saturday's projects came from the William Penn Foundation for greening projects. Sanchez said that the areas the group worked on were owned by various organizations including SEPTA and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. Bokreta said the students from his dormitory hope to adopt the 4000 block of Pine Street and maintain that area in partnership with UC Green. PennCORP, a community service program for incoming freshmen, also worked last Thursday planting 20 shrubs, donated by the University's Morris Arboretum, in a vacant lot at 50th and Walnut streets. UC Green, like UC Brite, is one of the University's efforts to better relations between Penn and the surrounding community. Other recent initiatives include the University's plans to build a K-8 school and relocate a science and engineering magnet school from North Philadelphia to University City. The University also is renting the Free Library a temporary location for $1 a year until it finds a new permanent location. College freshman Katie Schu, one of the students who volunteered on Saturday, encouraged other students to get involved. "It's not an inconvenience, just a really great experience," Schu said. "Every little bit helps." Other Into the Streets projects this year included rehabilitating houses near 49th Street, painting the Friends of Calvary Church on 48th Street and assisting with the Penn Center for Rehab and Care's annual barbecue for its residents.