Greeks put down roots in U. City

For Greeks at Penn and Drexel, the color of Halloween is green. On Saturday, members of fraternities and sororities from both schools planted trees around the intersection of 39th Street and Powelton Avenue. More than 300 students pitched in for the effort. With three students working on each tree, about 100 trees were planted. The drive was organized by UC Green, a local organization dedicated to making University City a greener place. Every year, UC Green plants 200 trees in the area across five planting seasons in fall and spring. Lauren Leatherbarrow, who has participated in UC Green's tree planting drives for the last 20 years, was there to lend a helping hand. Leatherbarrow, an architect, was especially emphatic about the benefit such an activity brings. "Not only will this bring biodiversity to the area, it will help cement ties between people in Philadelphia," she said. A large number of local citizens turned out to help. Nina Birch, a high school senior from New York who was visiting friends, was touched by the show of solidarity. The local community was "really pleased with our efforts. They would have formed their own task force if they had known about this in advance," she said. Another group of student volunteers was operating a shelter at 39th and Powelton. Their tools were not shovels and hoes, but ovens and paper bags. They distributed home-baked cookies to area children. A large number of children were contentedly munching on their cookies as a result before starting to play various games or reluctantly returning home with their parents to get dressed for church. Drexel freshman Andrea Theriault was gratified by the warm response to the group's efforts. ‹¨«This drive has been great fun. I am going to cherish the lovely smiles I have been treated to," she said. The groups planting trees were just as elated. College junior Jason Gilmore was all smiles. "Its a great feeling when you elicit change," he said. Wharton sophomore Jon Feintuch was also pleased. "I think this is really an effective way of serving the community," he said.