More than 160 Western students, alumni and community members woke up early Saturday to give back to their local environment in anticipation of Earth Day this year.

The fifth annual Earth Day service-learning project took place from 8:15 a.m. to noon on April 18.  With three park locations, the volunteers were assigned a spot at Padden Creek Park, Franklin Park or the 20th Street right-of-way intersection.

“Our goal was to choose places that not only needed work done but also that we were able to walk, bike or bus to maintain the sustainable aspect,” said Jana Brost, graduate assistant for the New Student Services and Family Outreach.

Director of New Student Services Anna Carey said the event took about three months to coordinate with Bellingham Parks and Recreation, Learning Environment Action Discovery and Residence Life.  

The volunteering opportunity was one of many throughout the year open to all, but this particular project was targeted to students new to Western.

“If nothing else we are raising awareness by being out here on a Saturday morning, and I mean, we live here," Western freshman Emma Butterworth said.  "If we don’t take care of it, nobody else is going to."

Each location had a unique need in terms of a permanent future plan.  Padden Creek needed blackberry bushes removed in order to open up the space and encourage people to use it, said Bellingham Parks and Recreation Site Director Rae Edwards.

The 20th Street right-of-way intersection needed ivy removed to promote the growth of native species and remind people that it is a park, Edwards said.  

Franklin Park needed non-native invasive plants, more commonly known as weeds removed and mulch added, Edwards said.  

The Bellingham Parks and Recreation department provided gloves, tools, mulch and other supplies for volunteers.   

 Some non-native invasive species, such as english ivy and himalayan blackberry don't allow room for native species and use up all the nutrients in the soil.

Removing weeds is a key step in the restoration process because it creates space and improves soil quality that will encourage a bigger variety of native species, both plants and animals, Edwards said.  About 60 volunteers worked at Franklin Park.

“It’s all about pulling together, whether it’s for class credit, or for fun or just to get people to meet their neighbors,” Carey said.  

The goal of the program was to help new students better their first year experience at Western and engage them in the student and Bellingham communities,  Brost said.  

“I’ve been volunteering like this since freshman year, and I have met a lot of people through it,” Western senior Elliott Hindman said.  “I think it’s really nice to get out and work with my hands, make community connections and improve local spaces.”

Butterworth and Western freshman Colleen Barrett said they heard about the project through professors and the New Student Services.

“We didn’t mind getting up early and coming out for this.  It has been really fun and therapeutic,” Barrett said.  “Plus, we have already been bonding with each other and with new friends.”

Edwards said Franklin Park, in the York neighborhood, has come a long way in the last three and a half years because of committed community members like Helen Jackson, Bellingham Parks Steward, and student volunteers.
At this particular site of the volunteer project, there were around six or seven community members, several Western employees and the rest were made up of students at Western who varied in age, Jackson said.    

“My hope is that by working out here in our local parks, people will take more ownership for their communities and therefore are far less likely to trash it,” Carey said.

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