If you've wondered why yellow ribbons are hanging on the trees around the University of Illinois - Springfield campus, they're there to remind us of our veterans.
Students and volunteers wrapped them around hundreds of trees on campus. It all started when a student who has a boyfriend in the service wanted to do something to show appreciation.
"The idea came about because my boyfriend's currently deployed, and I wanted to tie one single ribbon on a tree outside my apartment," organizer Samia Ahmad said. "And I kind of figured it would be taken down by someone, so I was talking to some students and they're like, 'Why don't you tie a ribbon around every tree around campus?' And I was like, 'Why not just the trees on the outer drive?,' which is like 403 trees."
This is the first year the event has taken place. Besides ribbons, students also held a toiletry drive.
The story was featured by WICS-TV 20 on November 4, 2012.
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