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Waynesburg U. students help community with service projects

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Waynesburg University student Nathan Kummer cleans antique equipment Saturday morning while other students cut grass and pull weeds at Greene County Historical Society.

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Waynesburg University students and faculty work Saturday morning to build planters for a community garden at the Corner Cupboard Food Bank in Franklin Township.

WAYNESBURG – An orange-clad army descended on Greene County early Saturday as more than 400 Waynesburg University freshmen spent the morning helping with several projects around the community.

As part of its campus orientation over the weekend, the university’s freshman class each year fans out to support community projects for nonprofits and other volunteer organizations.

This year, the 440 freshmen, along with numerous upperclassmen, faculty members and staff helped to build a new community garden for the Corner Cupboard Food Bank, weed and clean around the nearby historical museum and clear brush for a hiking trail around the Greene County Airport.

Carissa Swab, a human services major entering her senior year, worked to build the wooden planter beds for the food bank’s new community garden while also helping to acclimate freshmen to their new surroundings. She’s done other service projects before and enjoys helping the community.

“I think it’s great. I just love how everyone is working together,” Swab said. “It’s about building friendships and building teamwork together.”

The university has undertaken many volunteer service projects during freshmen orientation throughout the years, including last August when volunteers spruced up several historic cemeteries located on state game land. The larger freshman class size this year allowed the group to spread out to three locations to help the community.

Bill Coates, executive director of institutional advancement and a liaison for outreach, marveled at the assembly line fashion in which the students and their adult supervisors constructed the beds and cleared brush from the hillside next to the food bank along Rolling Meadows Road.

“To see how people come together … to can contribute to any community development makes me proud,” he said. “As someone who wants to see this area succeed, it’s important to be a part of any sustainable project.”

Including the freshmen orientation projects, Coates said the university’s students perform 50,000 hours of community service each year.

The group was aided this year by a grant from Noble Energy, which donated money to help purchase lumber, tools, safety equipment and bright orange T-shirts that could be seen from by passing motorists.

Stacey Brodak, a spokeswoman with Noble Energy, said the partnership was a good way to assist the students in their mission to help the community.

“I thought this would be a great fit,” Brodak said. “The things we look for in our (funding programs) are sustainable projects that help the community.”

Waynesburg University students returned to classes for the school year Monday.

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