ECC students, employees spend their Friday volunteering

Forty students and 10 employees of Elgin Community College volunteered at sites throughout Elgin Friday in the college's first campuswide event dedicated to giving back to the community.

About a dozen students and college staff members scoured the creek area near Elgin Public Museum pulling out garlic mustard, an invasive, nonnative biennial weed that spreads by seed. Although edible for human consumption, it is not eaten by local wildlife or insects and is difficult to control once it starts growing.

Teams of volunteers also worked at United Way of Elgin painting art on sidewalks depicting different activities along the Born Learning Trail at Channing Park, and at Association for Individual Development (AID) helping clients set up a barbecue, games and activities, and also recycling, cleaning and organizing cabinets, and reorganizing files at the AID warehouse.

"We are trying to instill in our students a concept of what it means to give back," said Amybeth Maurer, ECC director of orientation and student life. "It's not just a one-time act. Giving back to the community is part of being a good citizen and it should be part of our everyday lives."

She added, the students and partnering agencies were "excited" about working together, and that the event will be organized again next year with more volunteers.