Members of Phi Theta Kappa

Phi Theta Kappa's "Make A Difference Day"

By: Scott Waldyn

Posted: 11/3/06

While many McHenry County College students enjoyed a day off from school on October 10th, a fairly large group of others offered a helping hand for Phi Theta Kappa's "Make-A-Difference" Day. Split into two groups, these students went to either Veteran's Acres or The Lake in the Hills Fen to help clean up and protect the ecosystems at either of these two places as part of Phi Theta Kappa's two-year international service program, "Operation Green," which focuses on improving the environment.

First announced in April of 2006 at Phi Theta Kappa's international convention in Seattle, Washington, "Operation Green" is a continuing two-year program in partnership with Keep America Beautiful, Inc., that will last until 2008. With this program, members of Phi Theta Kappa everywhere are encouraged to volunteer to help clean up the environment in their communities, recycle as much as possible, educate and bring awareness to environmental issues, and to just generally try and keep their communities beautiful.

In attendance to do just that at Veteran's Acres were Melissa Downey, Carol Steagall, Laura Wayman, Matt Canning, Danielle Olson, Matt Ovington, Carrie Waghorn, Brett Oates and Karen Cralli. There, the MCC students spent a few hours removing Buckthorn, an invasive, non-native plant to the area under the supervision of John Fiorna.

In the other group at The Lake in the Hills Fen, Anna Lightcap, Rachel Seivert, Monica Lieb, Scott Waldyn, James Tschirhart, Alex Jacoby, Stephanie Martinec and Thomas Holland also aided in removing an invader. They spent their day first undergoing a tour of the area led by one of the fen stewards, Barbara Wilson, and then by stacking freshly sawed logs from a fallen Elder Tree under the supervision of the other fen steward, Alan Wilson.

In retrospect of "Make-A-Difference" Day, Stephanie Martinec, the Phi Theta Kappa event organizer, had this to say, "I think it is an excellent representation of the character of MCC students that we spent our day off volunteering our time to help the environment. I think everyone had fun, felt good about their deeds, and learned something in the process."