The streets of Ithaca were crowded with vampires, balloon boys and Lady Gagas on Halloween Night, but just hours before that, the same students ventured into the streets to participate in Cornell’s 18th annual day of service.

The event — aptly named Into the Streets — saw a record number of participants this year, according to its president Brittney Shulman ’10. About 1,200 students volunteered at over 60 non-profit agencies located throughout Tompkins County and beyond, including the ReUse Center, an organization that recycles reusable building materials, and Books Thru Bars, a group that distributes books and other educational materials to prisoners.

Others volunteered at the Family Reading Partnership, the Salvation Army, the Ithaca Youth Bureau and Beverly J. Martin Elementary School. Volunteers at the Cayuga Nature Center helped to organize a Halloween festival for children in the Ithaca Area. Outdoor cleanups were held at Stewart Park, Dewitt Park and Cass Park, as well as Collegetown.

Shulman believed Saturday to be a huge success.

“I’ve been working with the organization for four years and I think that [this year] was definitely our best-run event,” Shulman said.

This year, however, many agencies did not have the organizational capacity to host volunteers due to the recession, according to the event’s vice president Mara Perman ’11.

“It was hard this year because a lot of organizations had to cut back on their employment so we had a lot of places that weren’t able to have us,” Perman said.

Ellen Smith ’10 volunteered at Ithaca High School, where she helped to sell shirts and sweatshirts at a lacrosse tournament.

“It was fun. I felt like we helped them out,” Smith said. “I’d done [Into the Streets] twice before and I thought this year was well-run.”

The event aims “to encourage participating students to become and remain active in their community,” according to the Public Service Center’s website. But Perman said Into the Streets offers students the unique opportunity to sample various community organizations throughout Ithaca without requiring an extensive time commitment.

“It’s a nice introduction to community service and you can kind of see what’s out there in Ithaca,” Perman stated. “We hope that after participating for an afternoon, a volunteer might want to continue [volunteering] … I think it was a successful event.”