Veishea Service Day kicked off at 8 a.m. Saturday, and just two hours later, volunteers and students had already collected 450 garbage bags full of litter.

The Veishea Service Day committee was stationed all day at the Reiman Gardens parking lot, allowing people to sign in, register and grab a hot dog before heading out to their designated service areas. Elyse Harper, Veishea campus and community involvement co-chairwoman and senior in psychology, said that between 600 and 700 people volunteered.

Some individuals donated their time in spur-of-the-moment decisions – Dan and Lana Gogerty, of Ames, said they weren’t registered but wanted to help out anyway.

“We saw our neighbor with some bags and were talking with him and grabbed the bags and just started up,” Dan said.

The day’s biggest project was at 1508 Carroll Ave., a Habitat for Humanity site where volunteers raked leaves and helped construct a playhouse for children.

The playhouse will be painted cardinal and gold in dedication to Iowa State and raffled off after the Fourth of July parade this summer. Tickets for the raffle will be sold during Veishea week.

Four volunteers from the American Society of Civil Engineers Club helped out with Saturday’s project of building a playhouse by simply raking leaves.

Luke Monat, sophomore in civil engineering, said he wanted to help out because “it’s a good thing to do to get out with your friends and help other people.”

Organizations that benefited from the day’s work were Habitat for Humanity, Boys and Girls Club, Ames Historical Society, Friendship Ark Homes, Ledges State Park, ACCESS and Waterford of Ames.

Iowa State’s greek community joined with Stash the Trash, sponsored by Dave Kraemer, editor of the Ames Tribune, and Keep Iowa State Beautiful, coordinated by Jennifer Garrett, student program coordinator and graduate student in educational leadership and policy studies, to sponsor the first “Adopt a Campus” campaign to keep the ISU campus clean.

Magann Orth, Veishea large-scale community service co-chairwoman and sophomore in elementary education, said any greek students who volunteered for Veishea Service Day earned points for Greek Week and the 10,000 Hours Show.

The 10,000 Hours Show will feature Reel Big Fish in Durham Great Hall of the Memorial Union on April 14. Students who volunteered for 10 hours during Veishea Service Day or other community service events will receive a free ticket for the show.