The Breadsticks

It's midnight, on a school night, and ten women just spent the last two + hours making sandwiches and distributing them to those in Harvard Square. This first official event has shown me that there IS an interest on this campus, there IS a need we are working to fulfill, and there IS a desire to help others-willingly. One volunteer reminded me of something super important during our debrief tonight: we need to put the dignity back in our service. She used the example of personalizing the food we hand out instead of quickly putting together leftovers and odds and ends. This could mean writing notes, putting helpful packets of information together, and other sorts of great, creative ideas. 

All the volunteers who came out tonight were first-year students who willingly and openly gave up the better part of their night to serve others in their own community and learn about people who are different from them (but not too different they soon found). And this- this was all during midterms week. Do you remember it? Your first year at school, your first set of midterms, one of your first chances to prove yourself academically. And they were out helping others.

I am so proud of our small club that is quickly building into something bigger than what we are doing. We are exchanging ideas, creating goals, and surely making an impact.

As a Harvard masters student who saw us handing out our sandwiches said tonight and what we are now doing on a weekly basis- "that is beautiful".

The Salad

This post should really be called "The icing on the cake" as we officially became a recognized Lesley University club on Wednesday, the 15th. There is such a need on campus for a program like this one and I am excited and hopeful about the future of the club.

Already there is a great interest in "hosting" a Lesley Delivers event; this is super exciting. One CA, Tiffany, is going to be our first host this Tuesday, hopefully attracting many AIB & Lesley College students from the East-West dormitories. The following week we hope to have an athletic team or a variety of teams host.

I feel that having a faculty or staff member come along could truly take this new program to the next step. This would be a valuable way to connect with our faculty/staff on a different level, outside of the classroom.

I am hoping that as I pass this blog along more resources will continue to pop up.

The Soup

After having such a successful start to the program (which still is not officially Lesley Delivers until we get approved by student activities) we set out only 6 days later in hopes that we could connect with even more people. 

Because we have not yet received funding, we paid out of our own pockets. We only spent about $10 in total, buying bread, cheez-its, oreos, and using our meal points to stock up on drinks. We also received 5-6 sandwiches from our closest Starbucks, which they are forced to throw out at the end of the day due to sanitary reasons. Still, these sandwiches are fresh and should not go to waste.

We saw several of the same people as we had from a few nights before and this time they all took the sandwiches excitedly and without fear that they were unsafe or spoiled. They trusted us and it felt good. 

We announced that we would back in the next few weeks and I thought to myself...I am NOT going back without blankets. It is too cold to be in an apartment without a heating unit, never mind on the streets with no shelter or warmth. 

I am still concerned about some of the comments that have been made and some of the language that has been used while trying to help. Sometimes we don't even know that we are being ignorant so it is important to think about what is being said. I am going to work on this in the coming weeks, in hopes that I can further get this point across in the pre-flection.

Things we are currently looking for:

-Donated food/drinks

-Blankets

-Hand Sanitizer

-Pain medicine

-Charlie Cards

The Appetizer

We need a change: in our attitudes, in our actions, in our community. We are working to create a buzz on campus, to get people excited about service, and to get people involved. We need your help!

We set out two weeks ago, October 1st, without an official club title, to serve sandwiches and snacks to the hungry and homeless in Harvard Square. We went over some safety information and ground rules before setting on foot to Harvard- approximately a 10-minute walk. As a small group of only 6, we started discussing how we approach someone in need and more importantly, how we know they are in need. Can we ever really know? Are we just assuming? This is something we continued to struggle with on our walk, but decided we could either: a.) do nothing or b.) possibly make judgements. We chose the latter.

Within 5 minutes, we met a sweet, middle-aged man with glasses...who happened to be very drunk. We soon found out he was a friendly drunk who was more than willing to tell us about his life experiences. He immediately got emotional, which struck a serious nerve in all of us. Mid-story, he taught us our first lesson of the night: all you need in life is food and shelter.  Nothing more. 

We ended the experience by thanking our new friend, telling him "We wish we could bring you more." "More?" He said. "You have brought me such a gift already."

We debriefed on the steps of a church, trying to find answers to why some people have to suffer so much while others have nothing to worry about. We are still searching for this answer.

We learned more than how to make bag dinners that first night. We learned how lucky we are. 

Our first experience was an amazing one, which left us with sadness and a longing to do more. We found the motivation we need to venture back out and connect with these people again, our new friends. 

Setting the Table for Change

Our Mission Statement:

Lesley Delivers is an organization dedicated to supporting the homeless and hungry individuals around Lesley University and in the broader community of Cambridge, MA. The mission of Lesley Delivers is to help others in our own neighborhood by contributing food, resources, or time to the surrounding areas of our University. Our goals include, but are not limited to: building good-will in the community, creating a chance for teams/groups/individuals who volunteer to bond through service, creating awareness about local hunger, and running educational programs for the Lesley University community. 

Our Inspiration:

"Never again should a people starve in a world of plenty"