More than 1,500 students, faculty and alumni participated in a variety of service projects including yard work, volunteering at senior citizen centers and work with the homeless Saturday in Marquette's 18th Annual Hunger Clean-Up.

According to Pat Landry, chairman of the Committee of Community Awareness and College of Arts & Sciences junior, Hunger Clean-Up at Marquette consists of 60 different service sites with 60 different kinds of service.,”

More than 1,500 students, faculty and alumni participated in a variety of service projects including yard work, volunteering at senior citizen centers and work with the homeless Saturday in Marquette's 18th Annual Hunger Clean-Up.

According to Pat Landry, chairman of the Committee of Community Awareness and College of Arts & Sciences junior, Hunger Clean-Up at Marquette consists of 60 different service sites with 60 different kinds of service. Landry said the purpose can be summed up in one word: community.

"Hunger Clean-Up is the best day of the year to feel a part of the Marquette community, and it shows what Marquette's mission really is: Service for others," Landry said.

This year differed from previous years most notably in the fundraising aspect, according to Landry. In past years, the fundraising goal of Hunger Clean-Up has been $20,000. This year, the goal was $25,000.

Landry and the Office of Student Development were both optimistic that when the final tally comes in, they will have reached their fundraising goal.

At press time, the Office of Student Development Center for Community Service received more than $20,000, and there are still checks coming in the mail as well as an expected donation from Marquette Greek Life at the conclusion of Greek Week Saturday.

Hunger Clean-Up's fundraising will also go toward grants for different agencies, including the Grand Avenue Club, 210 E. Michigan St., an agency focusing on mental illness and homelessness, and Walker's Point Center for the Arts, 911 W. National Ave., which seeks to educate children in visual and performing arts.

Hunger Clean-Up was brought to Marquette by a group of students who were inspired by a conference on hunger and homelessness to try to make a difference in their community.

At that time, Hunger Clean-Up at Marquette was a part of a National Hunger Clean-Up initiative, and later students decided to branch off and offer a Marquette-specific Hunger Clean-Up, according to Laura Skaife, interim coordinator for community service programs in the Office of Student Development.

According to Skaife, there are many different theories about why the service day is called "Hunger Clean-Up."

"A lot of people hunger for a lot of different things, like ecological issues, or clothes and money for those in need or love for senior citizens without any family," Skaife said. "Hunger Clean-Up is a way of summing up all the different facets of the service day."

"Some people say that one person in one day can't make a difference, but I say that everyone has to start somewhere," said Lauren Demshar, a College of Arts & Sciences junior who has participated in Hunger Clean-Up for three years. "Hunger Clean-Up is a starting point, but definitely not the end. There are a lot of things that need work in this community, but together we can all work to make positive changes."

"Hunger Clean-Up works to show that the Marquette community cares and is serious about becoming men and women for others," Demshar said.

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