Volunteers continue clean up of East Campus hillside
April 2, 2002
KALAMAZOO -- Volunteer members of a group dubbed "The Hilltoppers" will complete the second half of a project they began last fall by spending Saturday, April 13, removing debris and brush from the lower part of Prospect Hill on Western Michigan University's East Campus.
After making a significant dent in the overall project last October, the group will be out again at 8 a.m. April 13 to finish the task of cleaning more than a decade's worth of shrubbery, "volunteer" trees and overgrowth from the bottom half of the historic hillside, which overlooks the Vine Street neighborhood and downtown Kalamazoo and is the site of WMU's original buildings.
The Hilltoppers are hoping to draw more than 200 volunteers for what they are calling "Phase II" of the Prospect Hill clean-up effort. Last fall's work brought out at least that many volunteers, who removed debris from the top 25 feet of the hill, which is approximately 500 feet across.
WMU staffers Gregory Moorehead, assistant director of the alumni relations; Mary Lou Brooks, office coordinator in the Department of Blind Rehabilitation; and Kevin Vichcales, coordinator of graduate assistantships in the Graduate College; are serving as co-chairpersons of the committee organizing the event. According to Moorehead, the Phase II effort is being included as part of the annual Spring Into the Streets, an event involving nearly 800 WMU students who volunteer for projects at a variety of sites around Southwest Michigan.
Volunteers helping with the Prospect Hill clean-up effort are asked to wear long-sleeve shirts, long pants, work boots with good treads, work gloves and eye protection. Volunteers are not required to cut brush or bring any tools, as the material to be removed has already been cut by WMU Landscape Services. Organizers warn that volunteers will be working on a hillside with a steep incline. The BarBQ Pit, 839 W. Cedar Street, will provide hot dogs for volunteers.
Interested volunteers can register to take part in the effort or get additional information by going online to the Hilltoppers Web site at <www.wmich.edu/hilltoppers>.
For information, persons also can call Moorehead at (269) 387-8775, Brooks at (269) 387-3456 or Vichcales at (269) 387 8208.
Media contact: Marie Lee, 269 387-8400, marie.lee@wmich.edu