Boston University students gathered Thursday and Friday to make cards to thank BU Facilities members who worked to clean up to the nearly two feet of snow that blanketed the Charles River Campus during Winter Storm Juno.
Organized by the Islamic Society of Boston University, the project brought about 30 students to the George Sherman Union Thursday to create their own cards or sign pre-made ones. A Facebook event page created by ISBU for the event garnered 870 “attending” responses.
Amir Ali, vice resident of ISBU, said he was proud to see the number of students who wanted to be a part of the initiative and come together to show appreciation for BU Facilities workers.
“I’m very proud of them for taking the initiative to give back to the community, showing our strength to the members of BU,” said Ali, a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences. “I’m from Boston, so I know how atrocious this snow can be, but we had a great response online. I saw we had almost 900 RSVPs.”
Without the work of BU Facilities, members of ISBU would not have been able to reach their prayer room in the GSU “unless the sidewalks [were] okay,” Ali said.
Taiba Zahir, secretary of ISBU and a sophomore in CAS, said she was impressed with how many students shared the event on Facebook and spread the word via social media.
“We started off really quick, and every time someone signed up [on the Facebook event page], they seemed to invite their friends,” she said. “It’s something a lot of kids had in their mind already, but they didn’t have a way to do it.”
Amina Egal, the religious affairs coordinator of ISBU, said in addition to giving thanks, the project was an opportunity to have more of a community impact.
“We haven’t done something like this before, but this seemed like the perfect opportunity,” said Egal, a sophomore in College of General Studies. “We do mostly religious stuff. This year, we kind of branched out and tried to start doing more current issues and interfaith stuff and community service. We became more interested in branching out into the BU community and the greater Boston community at large.”
Mario Vicente, a part-time BU Facilities worker, said he has been working at BU for less than a year, but he’s comfortable with the high amount of snow that often hits the New England region.
“I was working outside in the snow, just four hours working and then four hours rest because they had the regular full-timers on a 24-hour schedule, so you got four hours outside and then four hours inside,” he said. “I’m from Cambridge, so I’m used to snow, especially when there’s nowhere to put it.”
Vicente said he is grateful for the support from the student body.
“For the Christmas break, some of the floors left little notes just over the faucets and stuff like that, which is pretty cool. I mean most of the time, when I come in, I do nights Friday, Saturday and Sunday, so most of the time, I pretty much take the trash out of every [Warren] tower, so it’s nice to see.”
Jean Camille, a full-time BU Facilities worker, said some workers were asked to spend the night in hotels nearby to keep the campus running.
“I worked 72 hours during the storm [and] stayed for three days,” she said. “I’ve never stayed over in the hotel before to come to work. It was well-organized. I worked clearing the snow from the sidewalks, which was cold. I’m from Miami, not used to this.”
Camille said she was touched to hear that the students wanted to acknowledge BU Facilities workers’ dedication.
“Most of the time, kids are nice, but they don’t say much most of the time. They’re good kids though,” Camille said. “It’s a job, but it is hard work, so it’s nice when a kid notices what you’re doing.”
Several students said they were happy to have been given an opportunity to thank the behind-the-scenes facilities workers.
Greg Macchia, a junior in the School of Management, said as a native of New Jersey, he understands how much work it can take to shovel snow and clear paths during a winter storm.
“People definitely do notice them, so it’s good to let the workers know that people do notice the work they do here on campus,” he said. “It’s a good idea to thank them.”
John Griese, a senior in the College of Engineering, said BU Facilities has done a good job in the past clearing snow and keeping the campus pathways open.
“I feel close to them. I want to thank them for being the people who keep this campus running even when we barely see them, you know?” he said. “Also I had personally gotten to meet a lot of the facilities people last semester when we were working on their contract fight that was going on so I feel closer to them now.”
Sophia Roldan, a freshman in CGS, said although she hasn’t had the opportunity to get to know the workers personally, she chose to decorate a card to express her gratitude.
“It’s definitely a good idea. I heard kids talking about them doing a good job, so it’s good that we can tell them that,” she said. “I want to thank them for being so devoted even while they were put at risk during the storm. I was surprised that dorms and food kept running, and we could keep doing stuff when there was a blizzard outside.”
