Armed with gardening tools and thick white gloves, Olga Morales said waking up early to plant flowers was not a bad way to start her Saturday.

"I want to make Penn State presentable," she said. "And that's what got me up this morning."

Morales (freshman-division of undergraduate studies), along with about 100 other volunteers, donned "We Are" campaign T-shirts, planted trees and flowers, spread mulch and picked up trash in the first campus community clean-up day.

Campaign Director Missi Lau said that when students take pride in their surroundings, it is a way to make the Penn State community more beautiful.

"A lot of people are only here for two to four years and don't think of it as a home," Lau said. "But if they take ownership of the area they will think before they throw trash on the ground."

Lau added that although some of the clean-up activities, like picking up cigarette butts, seem trivial, they are necessary for keeping the campus attractive.

Clean-up day chair Erika Latchford said volunteers worked shifts in main areas on campus and downtown, including the Peace Garden, located near the HUB-Robeson Center, the intersection at Pollock and Burrowes roads and along College Avenue.

The volunteers were enthusiastic and many commented that they wanted to make the clean-up day an annual event, Latchford said.

Al Matyasovsky, Office of Physical Plant (OPP) central services manager, said OPP worked throughout the day to prepare for the event and supervise the volunteers.

"It is a great idea anytime folks come together to volunteer to help the community," he said. "I'm impressed anytime I involve myself with Penn State students and their mentors."

Area maintenance landscape worker Sue Cavanaugh helped volunteers plant a garden on campus.

"We got the whole garden planted," she said. "Everyone had a positive attitude, and they thought it was great to get their hands in the soil."

Caitlin Jenkins, the assistant director of the "We Are" Campaign, said they planned other activities for the volunteers besides lunch and work shifts. Each team had a reflection period where they gave suggestions for improvement and discussed the positive aspects of the day.

"Every time you have a service activity, you think about service and not always about the people and what they get out of it," Jenkins said.

Philip Burlingame, assistant vice president for student affairs, joined students who were planting red oak trees by the Pasquerilla Spiritual Center.

The clean-up day, Burlingame said, reinforced the mission of the campaign.

"The 'We Are' campaign set up a vision but it is also helping students achieve that vision," he said. "It continues to reinforce the values for what it means to be Penn State."

The clean-up day marks the end of the "We Are" campaign's month of awareness.

The day ended with a ceremony to honor the students who embody the values of the campaign -- inspiration, audacity, knowledge and sincerity.