Spray painting storm drains, cleaning a portion of the Yakima river’s shore and emptying out planters are all ways the Center for Leadership and Community Engagement (CLCE) is taking part in national Make a Difference Day.

Make a Difference Day was founded by USA Today in 1992 and is the largest nationally recognized day of community service.

This year, CLCE has three separate Make a Difference Day events on Oct. 3, Oct. 10 and Oct. 24.

Jessica Ortega, junior public health and nursing major, works for the CLCE and was one of the participants in this year’s Yakima River clean up.

“We started at Lmuma Creek [Recreational Park] and ended up at Big Pines Campground,” Ortega said.

According to Ortega, they dug ash out of fire pits in the camp grounds and got rid of Russian thistle.

Russian thistle is an invasive weed species that spreads seeds through the wind and is horrible for food crops.

“It hurt [to pull the weeds up]. The thistles are spiked, and we had to float the river to get there,” Ortega said.

Jillian Velasquez, food science and nutrition major, is involved with the CLCE and has participated in some of the Make a Difference Day events.

Velasquez was one of the volunteers that spray painted stencils of a salmon on storm drains from Water Street to Chestnut Street.

The purpose was to remind people where all the water that leaks over their sidewalk from their yards goes.

Runoff irrigation water hurts the ecosystem, especially in Washington’s rivers and streams.

Senior Kendyl Hardy is a program leader for CLCE and has played a part in organizing the Make a Difference Day events.

Hardy will be attending the final Make a Difference Day event on Oct. 24, the official nationwide Make a Difference Day.

This year, the CLCE will be cleaning out community planters hanging from the terraces in downtown and replacing their soil with pine boughs for the winter.

“It does [make a difference]. Some of our partners get positive comments and the community is positively affected,” Hardy said.

Make a Difference Day is important not only to Central, but to the Ellensburg community as well.

“I think it’s important because it helps [the people in] Ellensburg get involved in the community,” Hardy said.

Anyone interested in Make a Difference Day, or the CLCE in general, can visit their office in SURC room 256.