Clean-Up Provides Hunger Aid

Nearly 400 Harvard students have volunteered to participate in a fundraising event for the hungry and homeless that will also help clean up Boston streets, organizers of the project said yesterday.

On April 11 a projected $15,000 will be raised by over 600 students from 12 schools around the Boston area in a clean-up drive organized by the National Student Campaign Against Hunger (NSCAH).

The city of Boston will close off part of Huntington Avenue to allow fund-raisers to clean two of the streets from 11 a.m. until 2 a.m. that Saturday to raise money for the hungry. Because of the large numbers of volunteers, students will also be assigned to smaller satellite sites around Boston and Cambridge where, among other odd jobs, they will help clean homeless shelters.

For the second year in a row the Harvard Hunger Action Committee (HHAC) is conducting this charity event locally by signing up volunteers, conducting publicity, and organizing work sites.

Of the 600 people expected to work on this clean-up, about 400 will be Harvard students. "This is much larger than last year's 20-30 people from Harvard," said Rosalyn Hartigan, co-president of HHAC.

Hartigan attributed the increase in support this year to better and more aggressive recruiting efforts. Students get sponsors to pledge money for the time that they will spend cleaning. The event lasts for three hours.

Started two years ago in Grand Rapids, Michigan as a way to clean up state parks, this program quickly grew to a national level. Last year only three schools were involved, and the program raised on $550. This year with estimated earnings of $15,000, Boston will be among the top five grossing cities in the nation.

"This fund-raiser is worthwhile because it actually involves sending people out to these places to help clean the whole community, while raising money for the homeless and the hungry," said Stephanie A. Altman '90, head of recruitment for HHAC.

Half of the proceeds will go to NSCAH, the national organization which will use the money to donate funds on a large scale to groups such as USA for Africa and Second Harvest. HHAC will evenly divide the rest of the money to several food salvage operations and homeless shelters around Cambridge.

The deadline for Harvard students to get their cover and sponsor sheets in March 27, but HHAC has invited both students and administration to volunteer at any time.

"The clean-up is not a long term commitment," said Hartigan. Asked why she involved herself in the anti-hunger effort, Hartigan said, "It is a big problem, but I think I can do something about it."