More than 200 St. Thomas students volunteered to clean up yards in the St. Paul residential area last week as part of The Student Alumni Council’s Rake-A-Difference event.
Students representing more than 30 different clubs participated in the event, which takes place once per semester to help local families of elderly and disabled people. Student Alumni Council co-chair and senior Nick Keyport said the St. Paul community is always thankful for this event.
“A lot of people, they tell us … you know this is huge; I wouldn’t be able to do this by myself. If you didn’t do it, it wouldn’t get done,” Keyport said.
Keyport said SAC keeps a list of the houses that Rake-A-Difference cleans up from semester to semester so it can continuously reach out to families who need the help. He also mentioned group members received calls from local residents interested in getting help from Rake-A-Difference, which is a way that SAC has been able to add more families to its list.
“This year we added a couple (houses) based on neighbors. We put signs out in the yards, neighbors (who are) interested call and we get them signed up,” Keyport explained.
St. Thomas students participating in Rake-A-Difference cleaned up more than 35 different locations, and many members believe they benefited from the experience.
Junior Rachel Morris of the St. Thomas women’s golf team said both the men’s and women’s teams signed up together.
“We thought it was a great way to give back to the community as our team, because we get so much support from everyone outside,” Morris said. “So it’s nice to be able to give back.”
Junior rugby team member Alex Brown originally signed up for completion of his service hours, but also found Rake-A-Difference to be a great way to gather all of St. Thomas’ clubs.
“All the clubs are getting united to do this, and I think that’s pretty awesome,” Brown said. “We’re getting to know other clubs.”
Keyport explained that SAC does have to turn some people down due to location, but the families who are able to participate appreciative the students’ help.
“People love it,” Keyport said. “A lot of them will take and bake cookies, they’ll leave pop, water, stuff like that out, and they’ll come out and visit with the students.”
Emily Coon can be reached at coon8192@stthomas.edu.