More than 150 GW students and at least a dozen area residents spent a brisk Saturday afternoon cleaning up Jamba Juice cups and cigarette butts in the largest ever Foggy Bottom Cleanup.
Sponsored by the Student Association and Residence Hall Association, the semiannual event, now in its fourth year, was organized to promote GW-community relations and clean up the neighborhood.
Participants enjoyed free pizza on the Marvin Center 3rd floor terrace and received free T-shirts with the slogan “Foggy Bottom: Working Together, Living Together” before separating into groups of four to six.
Participants were then handed maps of the GW campus, garbage bags, brooms and rakes. Each map had a specific street or location highlighted for that group to clean. The pickup sites stretched from E Street, near the Elliott School, to close to Washington Circle.
“Our cleanup is about beautifying the neighborhood and students and neighbors working together,” said event organizer Alice Lingo, a senior.
While fewer than 20 of 500 community residents who received invitations participated Saturday, Lingo said she was satisfied with the record community turnout.
Trash picked up ranged from J Street containers and paper to old shoes. Upon finishing, garbage bags were dropped off at three planned sites on campus.
The average turnout in the past has been anywhere between 50 and 150 participants.
“Last spring, we only got 50 students because our planned date got rained out. We tend to get more people at our fall event,” said Sharon Pruiya, who helped organize the event.
Most students participating were sorority or fraternity members. Members of the Alpha Epsilon Phi and Phi Sigma Sigma sororities said they came to show collective support.
“(Alpha Epsilon Phi wants) to be very involved on the GW campus and make a difference,” said freshman member Sarah Schweitzer.
“I came to support the Student Association and because it’s a good cause,” said freshman Hilary Golston.
There were also several SA members in attendance.
Most of the dozen community members present were associated with neighborhood organizations such as the Foggy Bottom Association and the Advisory Neighborhood Commission.
Ellie Becker, a neighborhood resident, emphasized the strain put on the Foggy Bottom environment by the increasing the undergraduate population at GW.
She also complained specifically about off-campus venues, particularly fraternity houses, where outside trash is common.
Becker said she was happy to attend and stressed the importance of “making every day a Foggy Bottom cleanup.”
