Written By: Chris Carter Saturday, April 21, Sigma Pi Gamma-Eta held its first ACE Project䋢. The ACE Project䋢 (Altruistic Campus Experience) was established by the former Executive Director, Mark Briscoe, in 2002, to directly benefit to the hosting university. This is an event designed to give back to Rutgers University as a thank you for all the university gives to the students.
The ACE Project䋢 this year was designed to renovate a playground on the Cook/Douglass campus. The playground is a part of the Jameson Psychology Child Study Center Preschool and is the place of learning for the children of local residents and many faculty members on campus. It has been years since anyone touched the playground and surrounding area. As a result, the place became a decrepit eye sore and an unwelcoming place for the children.
Starting at 10:30 AM and working until mid-evening, Sigma Pi Gamma-Eta was able to bring some life back to the preschool playground. Starting outside the playground, weeds were pulled and the grass was dug up and leveled. After that, plants were placed in the dirt and the surface was covered with mulch. Next, old and disgusting wood planks that surrounded the playground on the outer wall were removed. In its place, new stained boards were drilled in. On the inside of the playground, all the walls, equipment, and play toys were power washed and cleaned. Dirt and residue were swept up as the walls were given two fresh coats of white paint. On one of the walls painted white, school kids finger painted a mural, along with brothers and some sisters of Zeta Tau Alpha. After this, dirty sand was removed from the sandpit and replaced with several bags of new sand.
All the while there was a BBQ with music for all in attendance, which included some school children and their parents. Overall, the day was a giant success. The playground is in much, much, much better condition and Gamma-Eta colony hopes the children of the Center will enjoy their newly improved play area.
From the onset of the Spring semester ACE Project䋢 Chairman, John Marquez, helped map out and and organize the event. Without him, none of this would have been possible. It was brother Marquez who contacted the Center, who hammered out the details, who compiled the budget, who bought food and supplies, and who should get the most credit for this event. On behalf of Gamma-Eta, thank you, John, for doing a wonderful job on the project.
Luckily, Saturday was a beautiful day and everything came out better than imagined. Thanks goes to the Child Study Center for granting us the opportunity to renovate their playground.
(courtesy of http://rutgerssigmapi.wordpress.com/)