Athens Beautification day had over 700 volunteers in the morning alone to complete community service tasks around Athens.
Students, Athens residents and city officials congregated together on College Green on Sunday for one reason: to make Athens beautiful.
More than 850 volunteers participated in the 12th annual Athens Beautification Day on Sunday morning to tackle community service projects to better the city. The volunteers in the morning and afternoon groups collectively completed 57 community service projects throughout Athens.
“We’ve definitely had a fantastic turnout,” Selena Snyder, the director of the event, said.
Snyder, a sophomore studying math and neuroscience, organized the event by sending volunteers to do landscaping around the city and cleanup projects. A few different places volunteers went to include Uptown, Chauncey and Albany.
“We’re kind of all over the place,” Snyder said.
A few projects included landscaping at the Richland Avenue roundabout, the city entrance signs and Court Street, Snyder said.
About $8,000 was raised for the event, Snyder said, by talking to local sponsors and holding “pie in the face” fundraising events.
“The funds go toward paying for the food, paying for the t-shirts and paying for the transportation, mainly,” Snyder said.
Event organizers also bought flowers, shrubs, gloves and other supplies used throughout the day with the money raised, Snyder said.
Sororities, fraternities and other student groups used those supplies, in addition to local community members, Snyder said.
“It helps build that respect and dynamic between community members and students,” Snyder said. “We’re not the only ones who live here. There are people who live here year round and we need to respect them as much as they respect us when we’re here.”
Kelly Mangosh, a freshman studying communication sciences and disorders, spent the morning mulching around trees on Court Street and other side streets with a group of friends in Alpha Phi Omega.
“It’s a good thing to clean up the community because this is our home,” Mangosh said.
On the other side of town, Ashley Robinson, a freshman studying communication, mulched around the Athens City Pool.
“They had huge flower beds on the side of the road so we had to spread the mulch out and make it look nice,” Robinson said, “That took about an hour and a half.”
Some students who participated in Athens Beautification Day in the past came back this year because of the experience the event provides.
“I’ve done it for a couple of years and it’s always a great opportunity to get involved,” Graham Warne, a junior studying chemical engineering, said while he waited for this year’s assignment with his Theta Tau fraternity.
A few years ago, Warne planted flowers by the West State Street cemetery.
“We planted a bunch of flowers there and that was a lot of fun,” Warne said. “I love doing it with my friends. That’s definitely one of the biggest draws.”
{{tncms-asset app="editorial" id="434fcd24-04d0-11e6-b38a-ab7bd3d9de24"}}
Some students felt like giving back because of what Athens does for them, Katelyn Guagenti, a sophomore studying communication sciences and disorders, said.
“Ohio University is Athens, Athens is Ohio University, so it’s good to give back and make things better,” Guagenti said.
@Fair3Julia
Jf311013@ohio.edu
