Students at California State University, Northridge will be trading the snooze button on their alarms for trash pickers and bags on Saturday, Sept. 9, from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. as they set out to beautify the university’s campus and surrounding neighborhood.

CSUN’s student-run volunteer program, Unified We Serve, is hosting its third annual Matador Day of Service and partnering with the community to preserve the beauty of the campus and Northridge area.

“CSUN has a long history of service and we are extremely proud to continue to make history,” said Unified We Serve coordinator Maria Elizondo.

Attendees will gather on the Bayramian Hall Lawn, located on the west side of campus at 18111 Nordhoff St. in Northridge to be given supplies.

Approximately 400 CSUN students and volunteers participated last year on Matador Day of Service in a school wide effort to clean the campus and neighboring communities. Photo by David Hawkins.

Students will street sweep, clean up litter and remove weeds within a two-block radius around the campus. Attendees also will participate in gardening projects, such as gathering oranges in the Orange Grove and planting in CSUN’s educational garden. All oranges gathered will be donated to local food pantries.

“Through this event, we hope to provide our students with the opportunity to become involved,” said Elizondo. “They will be able to meet other CSUN students, alumni and community members, but most importantly our students can contribute to their community of CSUN and Northridge.”

The event was created in the fall of 2015 in partnership with CSUN’s Office of Government and Community Relations, Associated Students and University Student Union. The community partners involved are District 12 council member Mitch Englander, Northridge Beautification Foundation, SoCal Gas, Northridge Chamber of Commerce and the Northridge Neighborhood Councils: east, south and west. The new organizations involved include the San Fernando Valley Rescue Mission and Los Angeles Family Housing.

Neighborhood Councils will have table booths set up at the event where students will have the opportunity to meet and network.

Matador Day of Service, Matador Involvement Center, Orange Grove, Students, Unified We Serve