Hundreds of ASU students took part in "Sparky's Day of Service"

PHOENIX - On Monday, students of Arizona State University (ASU) volunteered as part of the annual "Sparky's Day of Service", working to help end the cycle of poverty in Arizona by teaming up with the Valley of the Sun United Way.

Nearly 1,000 students took time out of their first day of classes, which can be usually a stressful time, to pack some food for United Way to help people in their new community.

"We are just trying to give back to the community and help people in need right now," said freshman Andy Gurjal.

"They chose to come here on their first day of class, which is an incredible reflection of the student community here," said Carla Vargas Jasa, President and CEO of Valley of the Sun United Way.

"It means a lot, actually. It helps us learning things and providing for our community," said freshman Willow Cerpa.

The students are putting the food into bags, and then loading them into weekend hunger bags.

"It actually goes to elementary school students in impoverished areas in Phoenix, going to be going to be able to get through the weekends until they can have school breakfast," said Vargasjasa.

The weekend hunger boxes are so important because they provide children food to eat all weekend. The student volunteers are cutting down on the time it may usually take united way to finish it.

"I love it. It’s a great way to kick off the semester and be a Sun Devil," said Gurjal.

United Way officials say the students have packed up 2,000 to 3,000 backpacks for young children. The backpacks will be distributed this week.