Making a difference
700+ students prepare to pay it forward
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HOUGHTON -- Nearly 700 Michigan Tech students are registered to help their community Saturday. Michigan Tech will again take part in the national “Make a Difference Day” Oct. 24 at Michigan Tech will send those students to over 70 community partners for lawn care, trail maintenance, light labor projects and more.
Student Leadership and Involvement Senior Coordinator Cole Pierucki said individual students, residence halls and Greek Life get involved at the event. "This gives them a great opportunity to connect with the local community," he said. "They get to work on projects that are meaningful to the community."
Pierucki noted Tech had signed up 696 volunteers for its Make a Difference Day. According to the SLI website, it is the largest number of volunteers since before the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to Pierucki, the City of Hancock had requested 50 student volunteers -- the most out of all the community partners.
Community Development for the City of Hancock Todd Gast said some of the city parks are already being cleaned up, but the city will need additional help come Saturday. "Montezuma Park, Memorial Park and Lauren Grove," he said. "We would love to have them cleaned up prior to snowfall."
Gast said the volunteerism throughout the community is infectious around this time of year. "I always just have to tip my hat off to the university and the students because they do a really wonderful job," he said. "To have this kind of volunteer spirit here is really amazing."
Keweenaw Land Trust had also requested help. Stewardship Associate Elam Maurer said his group of 20 students will head to Pilgrim River Community Forest in Portage Township to deal with invasive buckthorn.
"It's a good way for them to actually get to manage and understand the forest," he said. "Because a lot of times people think of nature of being outside and away from them, but in reality, it's right next to their communities and their homes.”
Maurer said students often come back to Keweenaw Land Trust to volunteer after Make a Difference day.
Pierucki echoed Maurer's sentiments and said students sometimes do not have a lot of experience with these types of volunteer work. "Sometimes they might not have done hard work before or not worked with a particular community organization before," he said. "It also connects them to a few places they can go back and volunteer with as well."
According to the City of Hancock's Facebook page, it is looking for residents to be at parks to manage and monitor students. Past projects have included yard work, raking, painting, trail maintenance, small build projects, organization, sewing, and other non-technical projects.
If anyone is interested in monitoring/managing student volunteers, call 906-482-2720 or email us at city@cityofhancock.com. If you have questions about Make a Difference Day, please contact Michigan Tech Student Leadership and Involvement at huskyhelpers@mtu.edu or 906-487-1963.