CARBONDALE (WSIL) -- More than 300 九游体育 Illinois University students volunteered throughout the region for Saluki Day of Service.
Groups of students teamed up Saturday at more than 12 different locations including the Boys and Girls Club of Marion, Eurma Hayes Center and Touch of Nature.
There they did everything from cleaning and painting to planting and trail building.
One student volunteer is Alyssa Roimiser, who acted as a team leader for a group picking up trash near the Town Square Pavilion.
She says it feels good to be back helping neighbors in the region.
"It really means a lot for us to be out here right now doing this," she says. "I know it means a lot to the other students because a lot are Freshmen, so they're just getting into it and hopefully they'll do it for all four years."
This is the fourth year for the event after its cancellation last year due to COVID-19 restrictions.
"A lot of us just want to be able to give back to the community and Carbondale has done a lot for SIU," says Roimiser. "So we want to be able to say 'Thank You' to Carbondale and to its residents and the community as a whole."
Saluki Day of Service is inspired by a similar effort founded in 1982 at Texas A&M University.
