MILWAUKEE — It wasn't a typical day at the beach for students, faculty, and staff members of Alverno College. Wednesday marked their 21st Annual Community Day where classes were canceled for the day to demonstrate the power of volunteering and community service. They arrived fired up and ready to go.
"Alverno is just really big on giving back to the community and it's also something that I believe in, so once community fliers went out, I just had to jump on it," said Alverno student Andrea Ramirez.
Another student, Izzy Torres, feels the same way.
"I'm a senior this year and I've been doing the beach all four years and I never miss it. I'm always like, everybody come, let's do it together," said Torres.
This group gathered at South Shore Park for a special beach cleanup. Kevin Casey serves as the Dean of Arts and Sciences and has been at Alverno for 35 years.
"Students get to connect with each other and staff in an informal setting and get to know each other on a really fun day where they're giving back to the community," said Casey.
There were also community service events at Alverno, the Hunger Task Force Farm, Jackson Park, United Methodist Children's Services, and the Urban Ecology Center at Washington Park.
"We are cutting down the Buckthorn bushes and so the people that are cutting down the bushes, they are giving us the branches and they have these berries on them that are not good for the birds."
The Buckthorn shrubs are a poisonous invasive plant, so they're also making room for more native species that will provide more habitat, food, and a healthier ecosystem for our area.
Abby Rosenau is an Assistant Land Steward at Washington Park's Urban Ecology Center.
"Volunteers are really crucial to what we do at the Urban Ecology Center," she said. "We've got 40 people here today working for a few hours, which would be more than I could do in an entire week."
That extra help came from a few of Alverno's student-athletes representing the softball, volleyball, and basketball teams. Morgan Whitten is a freshman basketball player.
"It's really fun, we're a big family I feel like at Alverno. It's my first year and coming in, it's been really fun and great getting to know different individuals with different backgrounds," said Whitten.
Since Community Day's inception, over 7,000 students have participated and it has proven to be a great way to empower the next generation of leaders to become their best selves.
