Enoch Boakye has found a new appreciation for groundskeeping.
Boakye, a basketball player for the Fresno State men’s basketball team, was one of 10 participants who helped maintain a trash-free Fresno State campus.
As rays of sunshine slowly peaked through thick clouds, Boakye couldn’t stop thinking about the workers who regularly help keep the Fresno State campus clean as he sorted through piles of dead leaves and branches.
“This job is not easy,” Boakye said. “It’s a little bit cloudy outside. It was smooth, and then the sun starts to pop in. It’s like, ‘Dang, like this is kind of hard work.’”
On Sunday, Sept. 3, Associated Students Inc. hosted a campus cleanup event for students and faculty. Participants gathered between the Satellite Student Union and Science 1 building at 9 a.m. before cleaning their designated locations.
Participants were given instructions through a QR code that led students to a Google Drive folder that included information such as instructional videos on pulling weeds from the ground and how to use some of the tools adequately.
Frederik M. Lisitsa, ASI’s senator for veteran and transfer affairs, was the lead coordinator for Sunday’s cleanup event. Lisitsa’s primary responsibility was ensuring participants were in the correct groups and knew their responsibilities. He was also in charge of creating the folders with instructions.
“We’re raking. We’re shoveling dirt. We’re doing as much as we can. We have instructional videos, waivers for everybody, water, gloves, all the equipment necessary,” Lisitsa said.
Participants in attendance helped clean up two areas of the campus: the Peters Business Building and Frank W. Thomas Administration Building.
The Student Cupboard lent groundskeeping tools such as shovels and racks to scrape through dead flower beds to make space for new plants. Additionally, participants were given trash bags to pick up any trash they saw along the way.
Natalie Suarez, a fourth-year sociology major, attended the cleanup alongside her sisters of Phi Mu, a Greek organization. She helped clean up the campus to complete eight hours of volunteer work required by her Greek organization.
Suarez credits cleaning up the campus as one of her favorite events because it brings a sense of fulfillment and pride.
“It just makes me feel good knowing I’m giving back to my community and campus,” Suarez said. “I definitely plan on coming back every time I hear about campus cleanup.”
In addition to helping clean up the campus, Zachary Ortiz, ASI senator of athletics and recreation, said he thought the event was an opportunity to help the groundskeeping staff at Fresno State.
“We just thought that the campus definitely needed to be beautified as well as help the groundskeeper any way we can,” Ortiz said. “Any day of the week, I would love to help out any way I can, even if it’s rain or shine, we like to be out here to do it.”
ASI plans to host more cleanup events in the upcoming weeks. To stay up-to-date about future events, follow ASI on Instagram.
