Left to right: Miriam Chege engineering student at Michigan State University (MSU) celebrated her 21st birthday by volunteering. Walnut Neighborhood Organization resident Wendell Hill, donated yard tools for use. Friends, Hilena Tibebe (MSU), Abigail Onchiri (MSU) and Sylvia Onchiri (Davenport University) lent a helping hand.
TNCP photo
LANSING, MI — Instead of spending her birthday partying, Miriam Chege celebrated her birthday by giving back. She turned 21-years-old on November 3, 2013.
Chege celebrated her milestone birthday by participating in a neighborhood cleanup project with her friends Hilena Tibebe, Sylvia Onchiri and Abigail Onchiri. The students are from Michigan State University and Davenport University and grew up together in East Lansing, MI.
Chege said, “I was turning 21 and although, people claimed it was “my” day, I really wanted others to enjoy and benefit from the day too. Therefore, community service seemed like the perfect way to kick off that Saturday.
Walnut Neighborhood Organization (WNO) was the guest community partner for the students. They supplied rakes, brooms, shovels and encouragement during the two hour cleanup.
At the corner of North Grand River and North Grand River, there is a plot of land shaped like a triangle that often times goes neglected. It also is the area where the signage for the neighborhood is. The neighborhood organization had been very busy in the past year dealing with negotiations between Niowave and Lansing Economic Area Partnership. WNO was successful in their endeavor and the students helped complete the year by providing manpower to clean the area.
The students took charge and raked and cleaned the rubbish off of the island. They filled 3 lawn bags and collected a bag full of trash. There was a lot of laughter and learning on that day as well.
Chege said, “It was outdoors and cold. We’re from East Africa and are especially sensitive to anything below 70 degrees, but we took the task at hand, completed it, and had a great time doing it!”
Wendell Hill, who lives in the WNO area said that is was great working with the students who worked very hard. He waved at neighbors and friends who drove by.
Hill smiled broadly and said, “It is great to see the area around the neighborhood sign being cleaned. People will not have to look at all the trash. The students will be able to look back and say. ‘I remember cleaning up the area around the Walnut Neighborhood Organization sign’.”
Students connecting with communities will become more prevalent in the future. The WNO volunteers talked to the students about the neighborhood and it became quite evident that it became more of a learning experience. It is not often that you hear about students calling around to find a volunteer activity to celebrate a birthday.
“It turned out that not only were we doing something good for the community but it was bonding time for us, as well as a great workout. Digging up weeds and raking is hard work. We came to an agreement that we will be doing this again. And I must say, I volunteer throughout the year, but doing it on your birthday, with your best friends, is really the icing on the [birthday] cake !” said Chege.
Olympic Broil sponsored a portion of the luncheon, showcasing how WNO businesses collaborate with its volunteers and residents.
This was printed in the November 17, 2013 – November 30, 2013 Edition
