Giving back to the Ames Community comes in many forms.

The VEISHEA Service Committee is hosting a clean up project Saturday along with two other organizations. Stash the Trash and VEISHEA Service Day will be cleaning up around the Ames community while Keep Iowa State Beautiful will be run by the Greek parents as a service project to pick up trash on campus.

“The VEISHEA Service Day started after the riots took place,” said Rachel Owen, co-chairman and senior in global resource systems. “It was a way for us to say that VEISHEA was giving back to the community and actually doing good rather than causing havoc. The first service day happened in 2006 and is now held annually in collaboration with Stash the Trash.”

The number of volunteers has been increasing for the past three years. Last year VEISHEA Service Day had about 900 people, but this year they are expecting 1,100 volunteers or more.

“This is a perfect way to get both Ames community members and Iowa State Students working together to clean up Ames and Iowa State’s campus,” said Leah De Graaf, freshman and co-chairman. “It brings everyone together for a good cause, but more importantly we are giving back to a community that has supported Iowa State University throughout the years.”

Online registration forms can be found on the Iowa State VEISHEA website. Although all spots are currently filled for VEISHEA Service Day, registration for Stash the Trash will be up until Friday.

“On Saturday at Reiman Gardens we will have two different check-in times for most projects,” De Graaf said. “The first time will be from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. and then again from 11 a.m. to noon. The more volunteers, the better; we can find a place for anyone.”

Free lunch will also be offered to volunteers Saturday, Owen said.

The biggest project of the day is working with the Campustown Action Association. This is new to the service day, but is expect to bring in 60 volunteers in the morning and 30 in the afternoon.

“This group will take care of the Welch/Chamberlain area and Campustown,” Owen said. “They will be doing a lot of cleaning up down there, trying to make it look nice and getting everything ready for upcoming events. For the first time we also have the wrestling team volunteering for the project.”

“This is a great way to give back to the community while still being involved with VEISHEA,” Owen said.

All shifts range about three hours in either the morning or afternoon. To see if there are any openings for the VEISHEA Service Day email [email protected].