Students volunteer to clean up Detroit

By Lisa Koivu

Daily Staff Reporter

DETROIT - More than 450 students braved Saturday's snow and frigid temperatures to work with The Detroit Project, an initiative to clean up parts of the city.

The project, according to its mission statement, aimed to unite University students "around the common cause of strengthening Detroit."

Students volunteered to plant trees and grass, build fences, demolish a garage or simply to spruce up certain areas of the city.

"I'm from the Detroit area and I thought it would be nice to give something back to the community," LSA freshman Orsi Dezsi said.

LSA sophomore Angela Clor said she also wanted to contribute to the city.

"I worked in Detroit over the summer and saw a lot of debris, and I always wanted to take part in cleaning things up," Clor said.

Sandeep Jani, an LSA sophomore and logistics coordinator for the project, said the idea for the project originated from a desire to get University students involved in projects outside of Ann Arbor.

"There is a lot of community service on campus, but it's on such a small scale. This is so much larger and in a place that has greater need than Ann Arbor," Jani said.

Sarah Foley, an LSA senior and media coordinator, said the project wanted to bring students together from across the campus.

"Our campus is so diverse, but there are problems getting people together to accomplish a common goal. We wanted to make a lasting impression on students and also help out Detroit," Foley said.

"We will really make a difference in the long run," she said.

LSA junior Katie Foley, executive director of the project and former president of Circle-K service organization, said the group wanted to do a day of community service that is different from other projects Circle-K has worked on.

"We wanted to reach out to different communities and bring people together to do service rather than breaking them apart like other projects do," Katie Foley said.

The project worked with eight other organizations including Habitat for Humanity Detroit, Northwest Detroit Neighborhood Development, Inc. and Motor City Blight Busters.

John O'Brien, executive director for Northwest Detroit Neighborhood Development, Inc., said they want people to volunteer so they can get excited about the future of Detroit.

"All of our futures are bound together. It is the tendency for those who are successful to separate themselves from the poor and working class, but stability depends on a diversity of people living together and building something great," O'Brien said.

O'Brien said his organization builds houses and works to attract development in Northwest Detroit.

"The most important part of what we do is developing leadership and attracting volunteers. It will take a coalition of volunteers to help us accomplish our goal of rebuilding this whole area within the next 10 years," O'Brien said.

Despite the weather, the volunteers were all happy to partake in cleaning the community.

LSA junior Brian LaLonde, stationed to clean up Stoepel Park on Evergreen Road, was happy to work regardless of the cold.

"I love Detroit, it's beautiful, but it needs a lot of work. I expected a beautiful shining day, but this works. It doesn't have our spirits down," LaLonde said.

Katie Foley said her goal was to "make students more aware of the greater community and let people know how they can get involved."

She wants the project to expand in the future by including more organizations and getting more students involved.

DAVID KATZ/Daily

Engineering freshmen Matt Gessford cleans up brush at The Detroit Project on Saturday.