Last Friday on the Quad, Whitney Trumble was passing out fliers at a table encouraging participation in the Volunteer Illini Projects (VIP) Hunger and Homelessness event called Spring Hunger Clean Up.

With a “bright red” sunburn testifying to her time outside promoting the event, Trumble said she was happy they were able to garner more interest and participation than in previous years.

“The program has grown every year,” said Trumble, a junior in LAS and director of Hunger and Homelessness for VIP. “That’s one of the goals.”

Group leaders also sent press releases to many local radio stations for support of the event.

More than 60 volunteers met Saturday to collect canned goods from Urbana homes, sort through items at the Eastern Illinois Food Bank and volunteer at The Times Center and the Center for Women in Transition, local organizations that help the homeless.

Annually, students at more than 100 schools across the nation participate in the Spring Hunger Clean Up, “one of the largest student community service fund-raisers in the country,” according to campusactivism.org.

The 20th anniversary of the event last April was the largest in the past decade, the Web site stated. Nationally, more than 4,200 students raised $90,000 for hunger and homelessness relief programs.

According to 2005 statistics from the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless Web site, nearly 100,000 working families in Illinois are living in poverty. Over the course of a year, between 2.3 and 3.5 million people nationwide experience homelessness, according to the Web site.

Although VIP does not collect money, the organization did spend time volunteering.

Trumble said Spring Hunger Clean Up day offered an opportunity for students and other interested community members to volunteer time without making a big commitment for the rest of the year, or on a weekly basis.

“We’re all really excited,” Trumble said of their efforts to help the community. “We’re having a blast today. People got to see how students were interested in dedicating time to the community.”

Spring Hunger Clean Up is a day that offers a wide variety of volunteer programs to students who may not know how to begin volunteering, she said.

“Some (people) just have never been involved (with volunteering),” Trumble said. “But I know now a lot of them will come back.”

Beth Hewing, volunteer coordinator at the Eastern Illinois Food Bank, said all the volunteers were appreciated for their enthusiasm and hard work.

“It’s sort of a tedious job (to sort through shampoo, conditioners and soap),” Hewing said. “But they did a wonderful job for us.”

Hewing also said the day was a good way for students to get a feel for volunteering.

Sara Gilman, freshman in LAS and Hunger and Homelessness coordinator, agreed.

“(Volunteering) is a good way to meet people and impact the community,” she said.

Nicole Alvarado, senior in engineering, is special projects coordinator for Hunger and Homelessness and St. Jude Catholic Worker House in Champaign.

“(Volunteering is about) helping other people who can’t provide for themselves,” Alvarado said.

“It’s a good way to see what goes on (off-campus) around the University,” Gilman said. “And we got a lot more volunteers than we usually get.”

Additional volunteer opportunities will always be available through VIP to interested students.

The week of April 17 through 23 is National Volunteer Week, Trumble said. It will honor America’s volunteers through the 2005 theme of “Inspire by Example.”

Although the Eastern Illinois Food Bank appreciates the additional volunteers this week, Hewing said she knew a lot of local organizations that rely heavily on National Volunteer Week to bring in volunteers. She also said the week is a convenient way for students to get in volunteer work before they are overloaded with classwork.

“(The week) is right before the school year ends … right before finals,” Hewing said.