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Once a volunteer, always a volunteer
It's 7 a.m. on a Saturday in April. A group of students are gathering outside of Alumni Memorial Union, setting up tables, checking lists and organizing piles of rakes, shovels and other gardening tools. Father Andy Thon, S.J., vice president, student affairs — known as "S.J.-D.J. this day — is blasting the Beatles' "Good Day, Sunshine" from a sound system.
Dave Borgealt is assistant dean for community service programs in the Office of Student Development at Marquette. This is his second Hunger Clean-Up and although he's present, it's really the students who are running things.
Homegrown Help
"Students started this project 16 years ago," says Borgealt, "and they've been running it ever since."
Hunger Clean-Up is Marquette University's campaign against hunger and homelessness in Milwaukee. Once part of the national Hunger Clean-Up campaign, Marquette students decided to run their own event so the money they raised would stay in Milwaukee.
One of Marquette's fund-raising service projects, Hunger Clean-Up also helps make the community a more beautiful place. In addition to serving at local meal programs, student teams paint fences, trim bushes, rake leaves — whatever their assigned work sites need.
Student teams raise money simply by asking friends, family or co-workers to pledge. The money collected is split among three social services agencies dedicated to helping those in need in Milwaukee.
Win, Win and Win Again
"One great thing about Hunger Clean-Up is the leadership opportunity it exposes students to," says Borgealt. One of those is choosing who will receive the money that's raised.
"Twenty-five nonprofit agencies submit grant proposals," says Borgealt. "Students review them all, looking at how an agency will use the money, the impact it will make in the community, and if its mission is consistent with Marquette's."
In 2005, 1,400 students and other members of the Marquette community participated in Hunger Clean-Up — raising $20,000 and working at 89 sites across Milwaukee. For many students, Hunger Clean-Up is their first foray into community service at Marquette — and a springboard to other community service work.
Senior Lisa Hensch, 2005 winner of the Pedro Arrupe Award for her commitment to serving the poor, is Hunger Clean-Up's work site coordinator. "A lot of agencies get so excited, they call to find out when we're coming back," she says. "Students look forward to it, too. They want to visit with the people they helped last year."
Jeff Wenzler, Arts '97, remembers his own Hunger Clean-Up experience. "It's a day that celebrates reaching out to the community," he says.
Now an employee in Marquette's Office of Alumni Relations, Wenzler organizes a community service project for alumni called National Service Day, which runs the same day as Hunger Clean-Up. On National Service Day, Marquette alumni from around the United States participate in service projects in their own communities. Alumni living close to Marquette can participate in either National Service Day or Hunger Clean-Up.
"These events give alumni the chance to revisit their roots, the time when they became socially aware," says Wenzler. "When they participate, those feelings are rekindled."
Marquette's 'Lil Sibs Weekend is also the same weekend as Hunger Clean-Up. Siblings are welcome guests and are often seen working alongside their brothers and sisters.
Suzanne (Breslin) Hilker, Comm '03, was introduced to Hunger Clean-Up when she visited big sister Valerie Breslin Montague, Arts '00. Hilker later participated in the event all four years of her undergraduate career. Now an alumna actively involved in the Minnesota alumni chapter, she participates in National Service Day in the Minneapolis area — while her sister participates in Chicago.
"I had such a positive experience at Marquette and believe in what the university does for people and for the community. I want to continue being a part of that," says Hilker.
Hunger Clean-Up and National Service Day are great ways to live the tradition of service that is Marquette — and make friends.
Says Borgealt: "Hunger Clean-Up and National Service Day allow the Marquette community to bond with its neighbors — and each other."
PROFILES IN SERVICE
- CJ. Egalite
- Gabrielle Misfeldt
- Conor Sweeney
- On a Mission: Dr. Chuck Garven
- Hunger Clean-up and
National Service Day - The Whole Community’s a Classroom
- Campus Kitchen
“One great thing about Hunger Clean-Up is the leadership opportunity it exposes students to. One of those is choosing who will receive the money that's raised.”
Dave Borgealt, Assistant Dean of Student Develpment
Quick Facts About Marquette
| Identity: | Catholic, Jesuit, private |
| Established: | 1881 |
| Location: | Milwaukee, Wisconsin |
| Undergraduate: | 8,048 |
| Postgraduate: | 3,500 |
| Campus: | Urban, 90 acres |
| Athletics: | 14 NCAA Division I teams (Big East) |
| Colors: | Blue and Gold |
