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by Keith
Huntsman
Every year, in partnership
with Keep Austin Beautiful, the UT Volunteer and Service Learning Center
coordinates a one-day student-initiated, student-led service program to clean
up and beautify a selected Austin neighborhood. This year Project 2007
partnered with Cook, Barrington and Wooldridge Elementary Schools, Lanier High
School, and the North Austin Civic Association to beautify and clean up the
neighborhood, schools, and creeks in North Austin and Quail Creek. Over 2,000
UT students, faculty, and staff were expected to volunteer for this annual day
of service.
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At
9:00am on Saturday, February 24, student volunteers by the hundred piled into
Capital Metro buses and fanned out from Wooldridge Elementary and Barrington
Elementary schools to cleanup sites in the area.
I put
on my sneaks and walked throughout the southern part of the NACA area with my
camera. Everywhere I went I saw whole crowds of enthusiastic volunteers with
shovels, trowels, hoses, paint brushes and trash bags, enjoying the perfect
weather and throwing all they had into their community service. Their efforts -
and their spirits - brightened the entire neighborhood with a lot more than
flowers and paint. We'll be enjoying the effects of their accomplishments for a
long time to come. |
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Some
stayed at Wooldridge to work on the landscaping there, and to help with the
Community Fair hosted by the school. |
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Wooldridge Principal Celia Glick sits on the new bench
donated by NACA. It will soon be mounted on a concrete pad under a tree near
the playground. |
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During
a lunch break, 8 of the 21 members of Ballet Folklorico de Wooldridge under the
sponsorship of Dora Lopez entertained the lunch crowd. Parents of the dancers
provided the lunch and refreshments, taking donations to help defray the cost
of the splendid costumes. |
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The
2nd, 3rd and 4th graders on his day included Mayra Avana, Leslie Martinez,
Esbeydi Duran, Jacqueline Gomez, Emily Santos, twins Junior Coello and Junis
Coello, and Christian Olalde. |
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Also at
the Fair were Theo, the dog with the perfect teeth, and his sponsor, Vickie
Vasquez, showing kids and their parents how to brush and
floss.... |
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...while across the room, UT student Nina makes homemade ice
cream for an even bigger crowd.... |
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...and
back to Theo for the cleanup. |
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Down at
Heron Hollow, at the corner of Lamar and Payton Gin, another crew of student
volunteers works to clear weeds from the gravel path. NACA volunteeers led by
Brian Almon were there, too, planting flowers in the pedestrian island at the
corner. |
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In the
background, the presence of heavy machinery demonstrates the city's continuing
work on the drainage lines being rerouted from Little Walnut Creek. The gang
could sure have used that earth mover. |
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Quail
Creek Park got a facelift, too, with trash and leaf pickup and lots of paint on
tables, fountains and handrails. |
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It was
a truly beautiful day, even if you had to work. |
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Acknowlegements
Thanks to Stephanie Phillips,Jordan Nyberg and Jennie Stokes
for coordinating the efforts of the Project 2007 Volunteers, Thanks also to
Matt Meyers for organizing the NACA efforts and serving as liaison with
BFI.
NACA President Anthony
Williams, Jennie Stokes and LInda Moore manned NACA's booth at Wooldridge, and
Linda provided some of the narrative here so I could freely wield the camera.
And special thanks to the NACA volunteers who contributed to the community
effort; among them Brian Almon, Bob Tavierne, Don Freeman, Evelyn
Monnich....I'm dead certain I don't have the full roster of vounteers, so let
me know if I left you out. Everyone involves deserves full credit for their
great service. 
Thank you everyone!!!!
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