While students are busy studying for exams, maintaining a clean environment on campus can easily become less of a priority. For this reason, the World Mission Society Church of God held a campus cleanup at Temple University in Philadelphia, PA. On January 30, young adult volunteers from Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maryland teamed up to remove litter from around the campus. In doing so they were able to deliver God’s love to the students, staff and faculty of Temple University.
The cleanup was in conjunction with the Church of God’s 3,494th Worldwide Cleanup Campaign. This is a global initiative created to help stabilize the environments of over 175 countries where the Church of God is located. Temple University has an enrollment of 40,000 students. Furthermore, of its 300,000 alumni worldwide, over a dozen are Church of God members.
Church of God volunteers were more than happy to brighten up the Temple University campus.
Volunteers gathered at Temple University’s historic bell tower located in the heart of campus. Equipped with bags, brooms, shovels, and gloves, they quickly spread out to the areas with the most student traffic. In no time, they began filling bags with excess litter from the streets. Even some Temple University students took time out of their busy schedules to join in the campus cleanup.
Many students and faculty members expressed their appreciation for the work done by the Church of God volunteers. They didn’t expect to see a group of so many young individuals take the initiative for environmental sustainability. Nevertheless, people offered words of encouragement and praise while passing by. And despite cold temperatures and some snowfall, the volunteers continued cleaning up the campus.
“You always see people littering. You almost become used to it, like its normal,” said one of the students helping with the cleanup. “Sometimes you want to do something about it but it’s hard to do alone. I’m glad you guys came today.”
The Church of God will continue its program to promote healthy and sustainable college campuses across the country. Ultimately, the volunteers would like to bring about a positive impact so other college students can follow suit.
I am so happy I was able to join in this event! I’ve participated in cleanups in the past, but this one was different. The members of the Church of God were so joyful during the entire event. They were determined to make a difference, scoping out every area of temple to find trash. It was really touching to see so many young people putting their faith into action. As we went around campus cleaning, the Temple students that saw us cleaning were very thankful and said they would like to participate in future community oriented events. I feel uplifted and overjoyed that I could be a part of setting this kind of example and I look forward to participating in many future events with the Church of God!
It is a pleasure to see our young people showing with great examples, in unity with their church and involve in the community with the volunteer clean up effort at the grounds of the Temple University Campus. Thank you, Church of God in Philadelphia for your finest, pride and joy who should be rewarded. By all means, they are tomorrow’s leaders.
After I have read this beautiful article of the members of the Church of God. The volunteers of the Church of God did a great job cleaning Temple University campus. We need more young people to be like those beautiful members of Church of God volunteers.
Because of the busy life and nature of a University Student’s life, it’s easy to overlook something as simple as litter. The Temple University Clean Up was a great event to help bring awareness and to promote a healthy, green, and clean campus. Staff, students, and local residents were grateful and applauded the efforts of the volunteers. Great event all the way around.
I had the pleasure of participating in this clean up! The students at Temple were very appreciative and we enjoyed seeing their bright smiles! It feels amazing to help out in our community. I will certainly be joining the Church of God’s next event!
I was not apart of the Temple clean up but I’m sure it was a lot of fun because when I helped in the Castor Avenue clean up, it was extremely exhilarating. l am always excited to help the community. I can’t wait until the next clean up, so I can participate and continue to help the community.
This cleanup was one of 3,494 around the world? That’s really awesome. As a resident here in the city of Philadelphia, witnessing a group of people with consideration for their environment and their community really touched my heart. I can only imagine how many more people around the world were moved by the efforts of the World Mission Society Church of God.
I think its great to see this generation setting a good example. Im sure they have busy schedules already, but they still made time to make a difference. I hope more students will carry out similar deeds.
The Temple University Cleanup was an amazing experience. It took place in the heart of North Philadelphia, an area that is in great need of pollution awareness. It was great to see how a clean environment can truly brighten up a community. The neighbors living in the area as well as passersby gave thanks and appreciation for the work we were doing. The environment has a great impact on the mindset of the people living in the community. A clean environment gives people a warm and safe feeling in their neighborhood. I truly hope to do more clean ups like this and to start a chain reaction in Philadelphia, so that more individuals will be aware of the pollution in their neighborhood and take initiatives to do something about it. Clean ups like this are great ways to bring the community together and instill love in the neighborhood. One thing that I took away from this event is that I need to remove all the filth in my own heart so that my heart can be a clean and warm place where love can dwell. Through this event and many more like it I want to spread the warm love of Heavenly Mother to the souls in this cold and polluted world.
Cleaning up over 40 bags of liter off 10 blocks never felt more worthwhile.
As a Temple alumnus and student leader that actively: studied the Green v. Grey Urban Ecology course by servicing communities; earned gold chapter status with Net Impact by giving back to society such as helping establish a 63 kW and 4,500 Square Foot PV Solar System on campus; and researched policy implantation with Green Council, volunteering with the World Mission Society Church of God significantly outweighed all prior efforts, because the WMSCOG finishes the job and the benefits actually last. At Temple, we have made countless maneuvers before to keep the campuses clean and clean again. Now, thanks to the Church of God, this time I am certain that it will stay serine.
The caliber of integrity, care, and considerations exuded by the volunteers exceeded our expectations even though they won the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Award for Voluntary Service. For instance, one conscientious gentleman of Zion started a trend of up-cycling by converting a window well cover from a clunky piece of trash into a useful tool to scoop wet debris. This action sets the best standard of recycling by fully utilizing the resourcefulness of raw materials. That ingenuity later inspired another team to repurpose an empty suitcase to safely transport hazardous junk doubling up its value as a sturdier trash bag. Furthermore, the MBEs continued to carry out the work amidst the cold snowy elements with the brightest smiles and positivity encouraging those around them and elevating the overall atmosphere. Otherwise, too many bystanders overlook these daily paths that they walk on without the slightest concern of their visible and invisible carbon footprints and without understanding that the journey is as important as the destination. Therefore, we are grateful for this group of volunteers’ eagerness to bring justice to North Philadelphia through their acts of wisdom by applying smarter decisions on how they sanitized and dignified public spaces. This establishes long-term and beneficial externalities for the student body, faculty, administration, staff and residents. Moreover, I was truly impressed by how well we worked together as a team for this community. In unity, we too were able to make a small contribution towards the greater worldwide green campus cleanup movement alongside distant family like Johannesburg Zion.
Thank you Temple University Office of Sustainability and Director of Sustainability – Kathleen Grady – for collaborating:
https://sustainability.temple.edu/about-us/calendar/green-campus-clean
https://twitter.com/TempleEcoOwls/status/825841734403899392
https://facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=10155772904975760&id=151939120759
Thank you Temple Facilities Management for allowing us to properly dispose all the waste into the garbage trucks for further treatment.
Thank you Fox29, CBS Philly, and CNBC Philadelphia for amplifying our efforts to promote healthy and sustainable college lifestyles on and off campuses across the globe: http://s3.amazonaws.com/NDSMediaArchiveBucket/WTXF/20170130/A87850E7-49E9-4C4A-8286-F5171245257E.h264.mp4
https://archive.org/details/WTXF_20170130_220000_FOX_29_News_at_5/start/2640/end/2700
Thank you God the Father and God the Mother for always leading by perfect example; your consciousness, humility, nobility, and perspiration taught us timeless lessons. Please bless Temple to blossom into pure fruition enabling the good seeds to graduate into beautiful diamonds.
Key Realizations:
I learned that even though I do good deeds, it does not entitle me to anything, because giving back is not about me whatsoever, but rather to serve those who need help in doing what is right. Thus, I need to repent more like an inmate seeking mercy for an early release due to good behavior and a genuine change of heart. Because there exists things we should do and things we must do. It is up to us to change problems internally with our mindset, behaviors, and habits and externally by taking responsibility for our surroundings with self-respect and respect for those around us in where we live, study, and work everyday. What we did with the community should have been already done, so it is not enough to know something, but we must do and do it with love like the good Samaritan. Crucially, the real King and Queen Melchizedek – pristine without sin – even came down to the City of Refuge lowering themselves to: clean up after our mess, pick up our slack, and truly serve humankind with selfless deeds of righteousness. So, let’s make Heavenly Mother the praise of the Earth, because she [Gal 4:26] absolutely deserves it. Animo!
Hosanna to Elohim! 아버지와 어머니 감사합니다! σας αγαπάμε! תודה! 加油!
It was amazing seeing many young people leave such a great example by taking time out their busy schedules to clean up litter at the Temple Univeristy Campus. As they cleaned up each piece of trash, they wore the brightest smiles on their faces. The members at the World Mission Society Church of God showed much determination to make a difference to the students who attend Temple University. I will never forget their amazing efforts and I am looking forward to participating at more events with the Church of God. The Church of God will truly change the world!
Wow the Temple cleanup looked like a great time. I think its so good for our community when we can come together to make the community better. Unfortunately I was not able to participate, but I look forward helping out in future activities.
As a college student, it is my first time ever to see this special event- Campus Cleanup. Obviously, this event not only benefits this campus by making it a beautiful place for students to study, but also brings about a positive impact towards these students. I noticed that the members had bright smiles on their faces as shown in those loving pictures when they were cleaning the campus regardless of the cold weather. Moreover, those volunteers were setting a great example for college students and others to follow their actions. I am surprised that some students joined this campus cleanup together with the volunteers even though they have a busy schedule. I believe that those students were moved by volunteers’ good actions. Through this activity, I realized that those volunteers are not just cleaning up the campus, more important, the volunteers are cleaning the hearts of people in this world and having them to have great hope in this world. I am thankful that these volunteers sacrificed their time and energy in order to brighten up the campus and the whole community.
I really love these kinds of activities in which show Mother’s love towards our neighbors by helping our communities, including the campus as well. If I have a chance, I would love to join this meaningful activity together with the loving members and to help our neighbors with my whole heart. I look forward to having this wonderful program in our society and lead our world become much more beautiful. By doing so, I am sure that more and more people will come to know more about our church — World Mission Society Church of God and to give praise to our Heavenly Mother who is setting the greatest example for all of us to follow!