WATERVILLE -- Nearly 300 Colby College students are expected to hit the streets Saturday to rake, clear brush, pick up trash and help spiff up the community, as part of Colby Cares Day.

The 12th annual event is a way for the college to show it cares, said Celia Boren, a senior and director of the Colby Volunteer Center.

"I think what I enjoy most about it is just being able to make connections with people outside of Colby," Boren, 22, said Monday. "I really enjoy getting to know the community beyond school and getting to interact with people."

Boren's sentiments are echoed by others, including sophomore Steve Erario, who will take part in Colby Cares Day.

"It's a real representation of our commitment to Waterville," said Erario, a sophomore who is one of three assistant directors of the Volunteer Center.

The work will take place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Students will work at locations including the Maine Children's Home for Little Wanderers on Silver Street. They plan to do outdoor work there.

"Almost all of our projects are spring cleaning -- raking, yard work, clearing trails," Boren said.

They also will work at Central Fire Station on College Avenue.

"They generally have us washing fire trucks, which is a lot of fun," she said.

The Volunteer Center sent letters to campus club leaders, sports groups, dormitory presidents, freshman orientation groups, individuals and others. The center signed people up to volunteer Saturday.

Colby volunteers also will: help clear trails in Benton and Waterville, as well as at Good Will-Hinckley School in Fairfield; do outdoor work at Hart to Hart Farm in Albion; and help with a bike swap at the city's South End Teen Center.

A new feature of Colby Cares Day this year is that students are teaming up with Waterville Main Street's Student Advisory Board to clean up the downtown area, said Boren.

Main Street's executive director, Shannon Haines, came up with the idea. Students from Colby, Kennebec Valley Community College and Thomas College will pitch in to help the downtown.

Haines said the advisory board, made up of students from those three colleges and from Unity College, are working on a number of projects. The board identified downtown spring cleaning as a priority.

The students will meet in Castonguay Square at 10:30 a.m., receive tools and free T-shirts and share a free pizza lunch at noon.

The city's public works department will provide trash bags and the parks and recreation department will provide tools, Haines said.

The students plan to work on The Concourse, in Castonguay Square and on Main Street, picking up trash and raking dead leaves and branches, she said.

Boren said Colby students will meet at 10 a.m. at the student center, where they will be given T-shirts, bag lunches and other supplies.

Boren, who is majoring in sociology and minoring in human development, became involved in the Volunteer Center when she was a freshman. The center has 10 weekly programs that run throughout the year in which students volunteer, doing everything from reading to children in schools to serving meals at the Mid-Maine Homeless Shelter or working at the Humane Society Waterville Area, she said.

The center also holds two or three large projects each year, including a campus Halloween trick-or-treating event for children.

Amy Calder -- 861-9247

acalder@centralmaine.com