Titan Volunteers came together last Sunday at the Best Friends Dog Park to help the Friends of Winnebago County Dog Parks clean and landscape the area.

Titan Volunteers and members of Best Friends of Winnebago County Dog Parks worked throughout the morning to landscape, pick up fallen branches and pick up dog feces.

Titan Volunteers is a committee at UW Oshkosh that coordinates volunteering opportunities for students in the Oshkosh area.

Titan Volunteers executive board member and cleanup coordinator Kayleigh Leahy said volunteering is all about bringing happiness to the community.

“It helps other people and makes them happier,” Leahy said. “It forms a connection with other people, and it makes you feel good about yourself because you’re doing something for somebody else.”

Leahy also said volunteering with FWCDP and having other outdoor volunteering opportunities allow for Oshkosh’s citizens to see the city in a new light.

“Volunteering is all about giving back to the community and putting smiles on people’s faces,” Leahy said. “It makes the landscape of our community match what we think about it.”

FWCDP is a nonprofit organization that helps maintain the dog parks and make them more pleasurable for dogs and their owners throughout the county.

FWCDP vice president Katie Reichenberger said dog parks should be treated like any other infrastructure.

“The biggest thing is just appreciating the resources and the community things that we have,” Reichenberger said. “This place in particular: we have a place where dogs can go off the leash. It’s being aware that the community will think that someone else will do it. You’re not going to drop your kid off at the park and say, ‘I’ll come pick you up later.’”

Reichenberger also said that going out and cleaning up the dog parks is not the only way to contribute.

“You can go online and donate,” Reichenberger said. “The donations go toward water or other resources for the volunteers. The other thing is that we’re trying to get a pavilion out here. It’s not something the county will do, but it’s something that we as a group would like to do.”

Rachael Switzer is a second-year graduate student who has been with Titan Volunteers for two years. She said she enjoys helping and learning about the City of Oshkosh.

“I saw an opportunity to help out on a Sunday morning when maybe not otherwise would have been given a chance,” Switzer said. “I said, ‘Hey, sign me up.’ I’d love to go do something I’ve never done before and see a new part of Oshkosh.”

Switzer has also volunteered at the Oshkosh Boys and Girls Club, the Salvation Army in Milwaukee and for ADVOCAP.

Reichenberger said that there are other events with FWCDP that people can get involved in.

“We have a Facebook page where you can go online and check out other events,” Reichenberger said. “There are doggie paddles at the beach pavilion three times a year. We just need people to help register and check people in.”

The doggie paddles will be taking place on June 30, July 28 and August 25. To get involved, FWCDP is open to contact through their Facebook page.