It is 9:00 a.m. on Saturday. More than 500 people crowded around on the floor of Alumni Hall as Ken Flatto, first selectman for the town of Fairfield, shouted, “Let’s kick some butt!”
No, this is not a strange political rally. It’s Hunger Cleanup, a national day of community service, that Fairfield University has participated for 19 years.
Students, faculty, alumni and community members signed up in record numbers to participate in this year’s event, with over 600 participants overall, compared to 375 last year.
University President Fr. Jeffrey von Arx helped kick off the event along with Flatto, who declared Saturday to be Fairfield University Hunger Cleanup Day. Von Arx felt that the day was about showing up at these places across the community in order to help those who need it.
Von Arx said that Hunger Cleanup really “connects with the tradition of service that characterizes Fairfield students.”
A board of approximately 30 students, led by Laura Krupienski ’07, met every Thursday since early last fall to make Hunger Cleanup a reality. In January, questionnaires were sent out and phone calls were made to the local area in order to find the locations that most needed help. Work sites this year included 35 locations from Malta House to Seaside Park to Alpha Community Center.
The board also worked to collect sponsorships from local restaurants and businesses including the Nauti Dolphin, BJ’s and Athena Diner. These groups helped to provide refreshments for the volunteers before and after the event. A party was held at the Levee after work was finished.
Advertisement was another crucial aspect of the board’s duties and included everything from campus announcement e-mails and tables set up in the BCC to posters and flyers put up across campus.
Darryl Brackeen ’10 heard about the event when he walked by a table in the BCC and decided to sign up.
“I love volunteer work,” he said. “Giving back is what it’s all about.”
John Daly ’08 attended Hunger Cleanup since his freshman year, working at the YMCA in Bridgeport and painting a halfway home. He commented that the event was a great idea because much can be done when a large group of people get together.
“I think it’s awesome, every year it gets bigger and bigger,” he said.
Representatives of various clubs on campus, including FUSA, Eucharistic Ministers, Circle K, Student Alumni Association (SAA) and women’s hockey, were also in attendance. There was also a contingent from Sacred Heart University and another from Bassick High School of Bridgeport.
One such club member was Renee Borghesi ’10, who cleaned up Calf Pasture Beach with SAA.
“It was a great way to spend my Saturday morning, helping others and the environment,” she said.
Faculty members were also encouraged by their departments to sign up for Hunger Cleanup. Two such individuals were Philip Greiner, a professor in the School of Nursing, and Kathy Giapponi, a professor of management in the Dolan School of Business. Both heard about the event through campus announcements, although this was Greiner’s first year. Giapponi, a Hunger Cleanup veteran, enjoyed her past experiences with the event, especially working alongside students.
Campus ministry was also in attendance, including Campus Minister Crissy Bowen and Associate Director Conor O’Kane as well as Father Michael Doody.
O’Kane greatly admired the organization of the event.
“This is a wonderful opportunity for so many people to come together in solidarity with each other and the people in the community who are living on the margin,” said O’Kane. “When we finish at the work site today, it doesn’t end. It begins.”
Alumni, too, could be found scattered around the day’s activities. Brian Russell ’89, formerly a business and English major, now works at a company for half the year and spends the rest of the year working on Project Pierre Touissaint, a venture with the goal of better education for Haitian children. Russell heard about the program while working as a mentor in the Ignation Residential College,and decided to make this his first year to volunteer.
The Hunger Cleanup Board also set up a station for donations, where participants could receive a t-shirt if they raised $10, which over $5,500 was raised. Half of that money will go to the national Hunger Cleanup charities, including medicine and money for Darfur, the Girl Child Network in Zimbabwe and the National Student Campaign against Hunger and Homelessness; the other half goes to local groups like the Bridgeport Rescue Mission, St. Luke’s Lifeworks and YMCA families in Transition.
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