The 2016 Cal State East Bay Make a Difference Week concluded on Saturday with the event that got students, faculty, staff and community members to volunteer in local neighborhoods.

Make a Difference Day kicked off at 7 a.m. in the RAW plaza where volunteers met up and took shuttles to different areas around Hayward to help clean up the local areas that are just down the hill from the Hayward campus.

It was a week of events that was kicked off on Oct. 19 with a keynote speech from Pacific School of Religion, Director Jakada Imani. Imani said his school’s purpose is to, “Bring together a diverse community through spirituality and social transformation. We are anchoring a community where spiritual leaders, social innovators, community leaders and artists have the clarity and capacity to create a just moral organization, movement and relationships.”

Oct. 20 brought with it campus sustainability day and on Oct. 21, CSUEB hosted a meet and connect event for people interested in connecting with organizations that need volunteers. The new East Bay food pantry also opened in the Student Health Center, which aims to provide any student in need of food with a variety of food items.

“I needed volunteer hours to be honest when I did this last year,” CSUEB junior Sergio Quintero said. “But it was so much fun I came back just to help. We went to a school and the kids made it really fun.”

Quintero said he interacted with the kids as his group helped clean up the street around a school in South Hayward.

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Photo by Kedar Dutt/The Pioneer