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Six students volunteered during fall break in Washington D.C. with Food and Friends, a nonprofit organization that prepares meals and delivers groceries to the homes of HIV/AIDS patients and others terminally ill in the area. Members of the group will discuss their experience and answer questions at a brown bag noon Friday in Hogg Hall. Lunch may be brought or purchased for $3.
The team included Marquis Scholar Colleen Walsh ’06(Manasquan, N.J.), a biology major; Trustee Scholar Katie Butler ’08 (Skillman, N.J.), also a biology major; Hannah Schorr ’08 (Vestal, N.Y.); Marquis Scholar Alysse Henkel ’08 (West Des Moines, Iowa), a government and foreign languages major; Kristen Radziwanowski ’06 (East Windsor, N.J.), a biology major;Allison Kramer ’08 (Cherry Hill, N.J.), a psychology major; and KirstenRutkowski, AmeriCorps*VISTA worker at the Landis Community Outreach Center.
They were responsible for packing grocery bags, assembling meals, and making deliveries to the sick. The meals took into consideration dietary needs such as diabetic or low fat and were provided three times a day, free of charge, supported by federal and private funding.
The students also engaged in Urban Plunge, in which they experienced the challenges of the homeless. At McPherson’s Square (an area with a large homeless population), the students were given $6 and a bus ticket, and a set of tasks such as finding shelter for the night, food, change of clothes, and healthcare. They also talked with people they found on park benches or lying in the grass who face these issues every day.
“I feel the people we interacted with, taking the time to learn about them and their situations, broke down some stereotypes many of us may have held about those without homes,” says Walsh.
The students also visited D.C.’s national monuments and museums and tried different cultural cuisines.
Each night the group had “reflection time” to discuss what the students did, what they learned, and how they felt about their day.
“ASB was a truly wonderful experience which allowed me to interact with classmates and advisers I hadn’t known before, learn more about myself and issues currently facing many urban populations, and use my time totruly give back by completing a service project,” adds Walsh.
Last May, under the direction of the ASB executive board and advisers, the group met to finalize lodging and travel plans and participated in bonding activities to bring everyone together before the trip.
Upcoming ASB destinations include Chicago, San Francisco, and Honduras with Engineers Without Borders; details will be given at the brown bag discussion.
Food & Friends was founded in 1988 by Rev. Carla Gorrell when her friend, sick at home with AIDS, needed food. Now the organization serves 1,000 individuals six days a week and initiates new programs to meet the changing needs of people living with HIV/AIDS in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan community.
ASB began in spring 1993 to aid Hurricane Hugo relief efforts. Every year since then, groups of six to eight student volunteers and an adviser have traveled to various parts of the country and Honduras to communities in need. The teams are given destinations but the students make the ultimate decisions. For more information, visit the Landis Community Outreach Center in the Farinon Center.