Students in Pittsfield give back to the community

PITTSFIELD, Maine (WABI) - Students from Maine Central Institute spent the day all around Pittsfield in the name of community service.

“It’s nice to come and help the community." said MCI Senior Emelin Hatch. "A lot of times we just rake or stack wood.”

Around 200 students and staff from MCI came out for Community Service Day.

“It’s for people in the community who can’t really do that by themselves or they struggle to do it." said Hatch. "It’s to help them out a little bit.”

Students cleaned up yards, parks, and gardens. This year the event is split, with the other half of the student body participating next week.

“Due to the coronavirus and protocols we had to keep everything close to campus." said Scott Giallombardo, MCI Director of Academic Affairs and organizer of Community Service Day. "Everything was within walking distance.”

“Sometimes we also do clipping weeds, sometimes shoveling some stuff." said junior Jackson Leonard. "I remember my freshman year we did a pretty intense one where we were getting caterpillars.”

Senior Asa Cianchette said he looked forward to the event more every year.

“Freshman year like oh this is just something I have to do but now I’m realizing I’m really having an impact on my community in a positive way.”

“It’s incredibly fun always." said Leonard. "It’s a nice experience to get out for a day and just do some hard work. Doing it with friends makes it a lot better.”

Students weren’t required to show up for the day, but you couldn’t tell based on the turnout.

“It shows how committed they are to these opportunities and to our service days." said Giallombardo. "So I’m very happy and proud of our students for showing up today to participate.”

For the students at MCI the work is a reminder that pulling together is what makes a community great.

Leonard gestured to a lawn almost clear of leaves. “We’re almost done here and pretty soon afterwards we’re going to get maybe one or two more houses cause we’re not going to be done for another hour or so.”

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