By Jane Keller Gordon, Contributing Writer
Southborough – Rain did not dampen this year’s Earth Day celebrations in Southborough.
The town’s 27th annual Earth Day Clean Up took place on April 22. The next day, town residents joined students from St. Mark’s for End Hunger NE. In addition, in honor of Earth Day, two new trees had been planted a few days before in front of the town’s library, close to where a large tree fell last year.
The events were organized by the Southborough Rotary Club. The Southborough Department of Public Works (DPW) helped execute the Earth Day Clean Up and identified roads that were in need of cleanup. Volunteers picked up equipment at the DPW before heading out into town.
According to a Rotary club press release, “The objective was, “… to collect roadside trash, debris, and general garbage that has accumulated over the winter months to support the never ending efforts of the DPW.”
Southborough Rotary Club president-elect and Earth Day Chair Christine Narcisse, a lawyer who practices at McGuire and McGuire in Worcester, said, “We estimate that 
residents cleaned up 50 percent of the 67 miles of roads in town. We were happy to have about 20 Boy Scouts from Troops 1 and 92 as part of this effort.”
About 15 St. Mark’s students participated in the cleanup as well.
Cleanup volunteers were treated to lunch provided by Southborough’s Domino’s Pizza.
“About 20 years ago, the then-owner of Domino’s Pizza of Southborough, Tricia Kalagher, called me and said that she wanted to provide a pizza lunch to all of the volunteers. Although she and her husband have since sold the store, the new owners have continued the tradition,” Narcisse said.
David Vachris, the dean of students at St. Mark’s School, who is also the current president of the Southborough Rotary Club, organized the End Hunger NE event. Over 40 volunteers from St. Mark’s, Fay School, and the towns of Southborough, Westborough, Northborough, Marlborough and Newton, packaged 10,900 meals.
“We are so appreciative of the efforts to set up and package these necessary meals for over 83,000 hungry in Worcester County. We are also appreciative of the financial support of the St. Mark’s community, the volunteers, Rotary sponsors, and supportive local patrons who donated monies to make this event a possibility,” Vachris said. “At 25 cents a meal, we needed to raise $2,500 to package 10,000. We raised $2,725 with a lot of help!”
EndHungerNE is part of Outreach (outreachprogram.org), a nonprofit committed to providing food, clean water, education, and healthcare to those in need, both here and abroad.
Thanks to the Southborough Rotary Club’s organizing efforts, the town is cleaner, and many in need have had a good meal.
