Iowa City schools have sent students to clean up Kinnick Stadium after football games for decades in return for money from the University of Iowa to go toward athletics and music programs.
The Iowa City Athletics Booster Club receives $7,700 per game to be split between West, City, and Liberty High Schools.
Participants scoop, sweep, and blow trash out of the stadium, armed with shovels, brooms, gloves, and leaf blowers.
Parents and coaches say this cleanup has more benefits than fundraising because it also helps students learn to be more aware of where their trash goes after events.
Other groups also benefit from the cleanup, including Dance Marathon, which receives funding from the recycling and redeeming of cans.
A broken trash bag is seen in the parking lot of Kinnick Stadium on Sunday, Oct. 22, 2023. The cleanup operation at Kinnick is a partnership between the Iowa City Athletics Booster Club and the University of Iowa, where students clean Kinnick Stadium after gameday for athletic booster club funding.