Well, sort of. I actually painted a bunch of city trash cans.,”I cleaned up hunger Saturday.

Well, sort of. I actually painted a bunch of city trash cans as part of Marquette's annual Hunger Clean-Up event, which puts students on teams to do service work around Milwaukee.

It may sound like boring and dirty work, but I loved it — although I was sad to brush green paint over some of the amazing sayings on the trash cans, which had white letters proclaiming "drugs are trash" and "every litter bit helps."

I have participated in Hunger Clean-Up for the last four years — every year I have been at Marquette — and I think the day is one of the best days on campus. Even though I am not a morning person at all, there is something about seeing all those people up early and ready to help that just makes me happy.

There is one problem though: Some of the participants' attitudes. Not one year has gone by where I haven't heard a heavy dose of complaining after the event.

Students grumble that all they did was pick up trash for a few hours, that their site was disgusting, that they had to actually do some form of manual labor or that they were bored because there wasn't enough work to do.

Hunger Clean-Up also gets a bad rap sometimes for little blunders that happen at the event. I've heard people complain time and again that the bus taking them to their work site got lost or that the site was too crowded.

Big deal. I think these complainers should try planning an event as large as Hunger Clean-Up and then see if they still feel like criticizing it. When coordinating the efforts of so many people, there are bound to be a few mess-ups and one lost bus surely doesn't ruin anyone's day.

Working in bad or dirty areas should be expected — they're the places that most need our help.

If you complained about being bored Saturday, that means you fulfilled your volunteer assignment with ease. It also means you missed the point of the day. It's not just about the work. It's about raising money and joining together to make a statement — Milwaukee could be a better place and we're going to make that happen.

I have done Hunger Clean-Up with the same group of friends since freshman year. We have always had a gaggle of lil' sibs or cousins with us too. We've come together each year to renovate parks, clean up a church and pack boxes for Hunger Task Force. We've gotten covered in dirt and paint, had mice fall on us when changing ceiling tiles and, yes, had some downtime at a few of our work sites. It has still always been worth it and has been a great experience. It's good to get off campus and help others, and I do feel we have made some difference in the community.

Here's to Hunger Clean-Up and its organizers over the past 20 years. They have all helped build the event into Marquette's largest service project and fundraiser. So see Hunger Clean-Up for the success it is, stop your whining and remember that every litter bit helps.

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