1,000 UA volunteers turn out to help community
By Beacon Journal staff report
Published: October 23, 2011 - 12:38 AM
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University of Akron student volunteers Lou Konstan (left) and Nathaniel Rosario rake along Jewett Street as they work to spruce up the area during the seventh annual Make a Difference Day in the University Park neighborhood in Akron. (Mike Cardew/Akron Beacon Journal)
More than 1,000 University of Akron volunteers turned out Saturday to work on Make a Difference Day in Akron.
That included about 160 volunteers in the Upson and Jewett streets project coordinated by the University Park Alliance. Volunteers worked on landscaping the 11 houses on Jewett Street that have been rehabbed in recent months through the University Park Alliance program.
They also worked on city-owned Jewett Park. It received $19,000 in improvements, including a walking path.
The nonprofit group has invested about $190,000 in the 11 houses.
Make a Difference volunteers worked in a 50-block area around the campus.
Volunteers helped the elderly and the handicapped with home repairs, cleaning and landscaping, and assisted animal shelters and local schools.
It was the seventh annual Make a Difference Day.
