Students rake leaves in the Milwaukee community.
Students rake leaves in the Milwaukee community.

More than 500 students gathered Saturday morning for this year’s Make a Difference Day, cleaning up garbage and raking leaves in the neighborhood.

Make a Difference Day (formerly known as Rak-a-Thon) was organized by the Center of Community Based Learning, Leadership and Research.

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Two students collect litter from a yard near campus.

“This is an event that always gets a lot of volunteers,” said Nicky Glaser, Director of Community-Based Learning Center of Community Based Learning, Leadership, and Research. “It’s really great that everyone comes together and helps out.”

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These students don’t stop at any height to help out.

Glaser said that the Make a Difference Day has been a city wide event for 10 to 12 years. This year, UWM was selected to host the city-wide kickoff event. The event also paid tribute to Vel Phillips, Civil Rights Activist and Wisconsin’s first female Secretary of State.

Students who went out picking up garbage and raking leaves not only had a little fun, but had a chance to do some fulfilling work in the community.

“It feels really nice to clean up the streets,” Khaldon El-Hero Jr., nursing student.

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Khaldon El-Hero Jr. crams garbage into a large trash bag.

There are always students who want to go out, work and touch someone’s life. Make a Difference Day is a way for helpful students of UWM to show their pride in the Milwaukee community.