Stockton President Joe Bertolino teams with first-year student Kyra Vasiliou, of Camden, during the clean up. (Mark Melhorn/Stockton University)
As Ellis Bonds reached down to pick up a discarded glass bottle from the Texas Avenue Playground, he beamed with pride.
Stockton University’s interim director of Residential Education joined a handful of students and staff to pick up trash at his childhood park last month as part of the third annual Community Day Clean Up and Party in the Park in Atlantic City.
“I was born and raised here,” Bonds said, adding that he went to the Texas Avenue School just down the street. “This is my hometown, and I think this is a great opportunity for Stockton to advance what we are doing in Atlantic City through efforts like serving the community. We want it to look like we have an actual presence here.”
And that presence was strong as hundreds of volunteers signed up to clean up 10 different locations in all six wards of the city from the beach in front of Resorts Atlantic City to the Chelsea neighborhood surrounding Stockton’s Atlantic City campus.
“It’s really about Stockton partnering with the community to beautify our city,” said Brian Jackson, chief operating officer of the Atlantic City campus. “And I say, ‘our’ city because we all have a stake in Atlantic City.”
Sophomore Tony Guardado-Castro joined Bonds in helping clean up the playground. He was one of a few Educational Opportunity Fund, or EOF, students to volunteer.
The EOF was created by the state to ensure meaningful access to higher education for those who come from backgrounds of economic and educational disadvantage.
“At first, it was a lot waking up at 8:30 a.m.,” Guardado-Castro said with a laugh. “But now being able to see everyone here and having fun, it’s made it all better.”
A trio of Stockton first-year students living in Kesselman Hall — Sol Lopez, Autumn Fields and Kyra Vasiliou — were surprised when Stockton President Joe Bertolino asked to join their clean-up crew around nearby O’Donnell Park.
“Why not?” replied Vasiliou, a visual arts major from Camden, when asked why she got up on a Saturday morning to volunteer.
“I might as well do some good. We’ve got to do our part, too. I figured clean up first and then party after,” she said referring to the Party in the Park that started after the cleanup.
As Bertolino used a trash-picker to quickly fill up Vasiliou’s large clear bag, he said he was thrilled that so many Stockton students volunteered.
“It’s so great to see our students who live in Atlantic City give back in such a positive way,” he said. “They are an important piece as we continue to build new and nurture existing relationships with the city.”
The day wrapped up with the Party in the Park featuring more than 60 vendors with food trucks, live music, a petting zoo and free community resources, such as Jewish Family Services.
“This third annual event just reaffirms our commitment to being an Anchor Institution,” said Michael Cagno, the executive director of the Noyes Arts Garage of Stockton University. “Many of the artists and the community organizations are from Atlantic City, so we’re really focusing on providing opportunities for connections and to find initiatives that better the city for us to live work and learn.”
