EIU Media Relations

Third Annual Panther Service Day Set For April 16; Volunteers Being Sought

For the third consecutive year, crews of Eastern Illinois University students and staff are planning "Panther Service Day," scheduled to take place Saturday, April 16.

And members of Eastern's Student Government hope that volunteers from the Charleston community will join university students, faculty, staff and administrators as they paint homes and clean up yards and parks in the city.

Interested persons may pick up applications and information packets at the Student Activities Center, located on the second floor of the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union. Forms should be completed and returned by Friday, April 1, if possible.

Those with questions should contact Christopher Getty, student body president, at 581-7670 or gettychris@yahoo.com .

"The purpose of this project is two-fold," Getty said. "We'd certainly like to better the relationship between Eastern and the city, but we also want to beautify the community we all share."

Alison Mormino, former student body president, brought the idea of a "Bucket Brigade" to Eastern's campus in 2003. Her plans were patterned after a similar program created by Dale Nuedecker, a State Farm Insurance agent from Alton , in 1988. Since then, the project has grown to more than 50 volunteer teams and more than 8,000 homes painted in and near the Alton area.

The local effort was considered an enormous accomplishment, too, and Mormino was proud to see a high turnout of EIU students, who made up the majority of the 150 volunteers. The effort also earned a Governor's Home Town Award, presented in November 2004 through the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. (Shown, in photo at left, are Alison Mormino with Marge Knoop, Charleston city councilwoman, and Charleston Mayor Dan Cougill. Photo courtesy of Ken Trevarthan, Charleston Times-Courier/Mattoon Journal Gazette.)

The following year, under the leadership of Caleb Judy, Eastern's 2003-2004 student body president, Panther Service Day saw more than 200 EIU students and community members come together to clean up portions of the city and to paint homes belonging to Charleston residents.

Getty anticipates the participation of even more volunteers and the completion of more local projects during this year's event.

In addition to workers, Getty and other organizers are still seeking monetary and supply donations (i.e., paint, paint brushes, scrapers, rollers, ladders, hammers, screwdrivers, trash bags, drop cloths, gloves, rags, leaf rakes, garden rakes, wheelbarrows, buckets, food for volunteers, etc.) to support the program.

The university group is also still accepting nominations of properties in need of a "spruce-up."

In order to qualify for the painting program, homes must be one or one-and-a-half stories tall and owner-occupied. Yards need to be nominated, as well, while parks will be decided on in consultation with city officials. Emphasis will be placed on homes in which the owners are disabled or elderly or who can demonstrate financial need.

Homeowners may nominate themselves, and nominees will be contacted prior to April 16 if their property is chosen as a Panther Service Day project. All volunteers and materials will be donated.