Community Service Project at Garfield Park Conservatory


Posted: 6/8/2009
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This past weekend the Chicago Scholars Class Officers (see who they are) organized the first Civic Engagement Project. It took place at the Garfield Park Conservatory on June 6th, 2009. Despite the forecasted thunderstorms and showers, 12 scholars, 1 mentor and Karen G. Foley, President of the Chicago Scholars Foundation, attended and rolled their sleeves up to work. Though Thomas Costanza, a foreman at the conservatory, was surprised when 14 volunteers showed up to do the work allocated for 30, the Scholars quickly proved that no task was too big. Ambition prevailed and the Chicago Scholars helped spread mulch, soil, and cleaned the grounds for tree planting.

The Class Officers will organize more events like this in the future, so stay tuned for new announcements. Our goal is to build a strong community of Chicago Scholars & Alumni to create a positive impact on Chicago.

The Class Officers are extending a warm THANK YOU to all the volunteers that showed up and put a tremendous effort and dedication to finish our task before it started raining in the afternoon. Also BIG THANKS goes out to Thomas Costanza at the Garfield for arranging everything, DeRell Bonner for reaching out to Garfield Park and everybody who showed up on this early Saturday morning. You are all great! 

- Karolis, Associate, & the Class Officers

See more photos on our Facebook page by clicking here. 

Below is a list of students who participated:

  • Elliot Barney (2013),  attending Hope College in the fall
  • Monique Foote (2013), attending Tuskegee University in the fall
  • Anna Lynn Smith (2013), attending Howard University in the fall
  • Iveta Bakalova (2012), a rising sophomore at Georgetown University
  • DeRell Bonner (2012), a rising sophomore at Howard University 
  • Monica Wawrzyniak (2012), a rising sophomore at Wellesley College
  • Paula Daniliuc (2011), a rising Junior at Harvard University
  • Sandra Menezes (2011), a rising junior at Illinois Institute of Technology
  • Olivia Villarreal (2011), a rising junior at University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign
  • Yadira Leon (2010), a rising senior at Marquette University
  • Rico Howard (2009), a recent graduate from Grinnell College
  • Nicole Commodore (2008), a graduate from University of Virginia and a current graduate student at the Indiana University Law School
  • Karolis Karalevicius (2008), a graduate from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a current Chicago Scholars Fellow

Honorable guests: 

  • Karen Foley, President of Scholarship Chicago
  • Aaron Sharabaika, Mentor