One refrain summed up the good will as gloved hands cleared debris from acres of parkland and beach on Chicago's South Side: "It's what we do."

Nearly 300 volunteers took part in the 40th International Convention's Day of Service on a chilly May 5 morning, including many young members representing the RENEW and NextGen programs.

"It's an honor to be here," said Rick Hockworth, a Riverside, Calif., Local 440 foreman working along Lake Michigan beach. "This is a way to give back to the community."

At Dunbar Park across the street from Chicago Local 134, where the days' outings began with coffee, donuts, and gratitude from International President Lonnie R. Stephenson and International Secretary Treasurer Kenneth W. Cooper, the greenspace was spick-and-span in a couple of hours.

"It's a way to let the city know we're here and to leave it better than we found it," said one of the park crew, retired journeyman electrician Ronnie Jimmerson of Portland, Ore., Local 48.

The cleanups at two parks and two beach areas were organized by Local 134 journeyman and Chicago Park Department electrician Joe Wells after Business Manager Don Finn suggested beautification efforts as a good way to engage a large number of volunteers.

Wells worked out the details with his boss in the park department's trades division, and SEIU Local 73, which represents city landscapers, had to sign off.

As volunteers noted, the locations were in pretty good shape to begin with. "Our SEIU brothers and sisters do a great job, but they were appreciative of the IBEW's help keeping up with the debris," Wells said. "No matter how many paid employees there are, keeping the parks cleaned up is a big job."

Wells thanked the Day of Service captains, eight from Local 134 and six from Detroit Local 58, all of whom walked through their project areas with him a day or two earlier.

"We'd been planning this, going back and forth, for a month and half, two months," he said. "I think it all went very smoothly. We'd scheduled four hours for the cleanups, and it was more like two to three hours at each location."

One of many IBEW sisters at the beach was Charlotte Reed, a journeyman wireman at Indianapolis Local 481. She said volunteering for cleanups like the Day of Service changed her.

"I don't throw my cigarette butts on the ground anymore. I was cleaning up one day and was like, 'Who are all these [jerks] throwing their butts everywhere?' and then I thought "Me! I'm one of the [jerks]!'" she said laughing. "I'm not a jerk anymore."

Up on a grassy area, a neighbor walking his dog smiled at the teams of volunteers.

"I love that the IBEW is doing this," said Jeff Epton, who takes 12-year-old Jetta to the beachfront park several times a week. "My hope is that cleaning up the debris helps people value the park, and maybe next time they'll take their trash with them when they leave."