TIPPECANOE COUNTY, Ind. (WLFI) — Hundreds of homes in Tippecanoe and surrounding counties underwent clean up on Saturday morning.

At least 1,600 Purdue University students spent the morning cleaning up neighborhoods in need. It's part of the campus’ annual Purdue Winterization event.

The event was created to bridge the gap between the community and its college students. Students raked leaves, cleaned gutters, and organized front-lawns.

Many of the residents helped were elderly individuals. Senior Coordinator, Adam Hemmelgarn said it's nice to experience the community outside of campus.

“It's a very real thing that people get kind of put on their blinders and then they stay within their schedules and their groups but I believe it's important to go out and broaden those because you get a different perspective on a lot of things,” said Hemmelgarn.

Public Relations Coordinator Emily Bywater agrees. She said seeing today's large turnout is also a great feeling.

“The whole time I was just thinking like, wow, I don't think I realized before now the scope of how many volunteers this actually is so that was just really cool and then to actually be here today and see all these people coming through the doors it's really awesome,” said Bywater

This event is 100% volunteer-driven. You can register your home to be serviced next year at the Purdue Winterization webpage or call (765) 421-6345.