After a couple days of warm weather, the morning of April 14 was bitter cold as MU students waited on Traditions Plaza in groups to partake in the annual Caring for Columbia service event. Each group went to a different service site, such as retirement homes where volunteers made bouquets and played bingo with the residents, streets for roadside cleanup and food banks.

Caring for Columbia is the largest student-run service day at MU, and there are approximately 1,300 students from Greek Life, residential halls and more who participate at over 70 sites.

We tried not to get blown away by the wind as Traditions Plaza filled with students ready to serve Columbia. By 8 a.m., everyone was grouped up and snacking on coffee and bagels to kill time before the president of Caring for Columbia released us to our sites.

My group participated by cleaning up the sides of roads in a residential community. We were provided work vests, gloves and trash bags. The two groups I was with were all girls from my sorority, Kappa Alpha Theta, and even though some of us are close, I would say this event brought us together even closer as we braved the cold air blowing our trash bags away and our hair into our eyes. As time went on and our trash bags filled up, we created memories in the least expected place.

When we finished after about three hours of walking between bushes to remove trash, we realized how much trash we actually picked up. To say the least, we were all astonished. I looked around at the women I was with, and the faces that surrounded me were filled with shock. I couldn’t believe how horrible we treated our environment and community. I already knew people don’t have much respect for things that are not theirs, but knowing that people throw empty alcohol bottles, styrofoam cups and used needles into the city’s land left my heart hurting.

On our way back, we placed the bright orange trash bags in three large piles on the side of the road for the city. At the last pile, the smaller group I was with stood in a circle before we headed back to the cars. We all looked at one another and agreed that our country should have stricter littering laws so no one has to feel the pain we did seeing how many bags we filled up and what we filled them with.

_Edited by Alexandra Sharp | asharp@themaneater.com_