A New Beginning

This semester for Lesley Delivers has shown great dedication and excitement already. Our first run of the semester last week had about 35 students involved, handing out peanut butter and jelly sandwiches generously donated by Flour Bakery and Cafe. The number of students that came out for this run was amazing, something that Lesley Delivers has not seen in quite a while! Having new faces in our group was refreshing, and it was clear that the experience was eye-opening for the new members of the Lesley community. New ideas were suggested and shared with the group, including extending routes to further places in Cambridge like Central Square and Porter Square. The returning members were grateful for some fresh perspectives to liven up our Lesley Delivers experience and make it something new this year. We also have sophomores and a junior, Theresa Powers, Claire Enderson, and Ginny Trufan, who have stepped up as role models and leaders for the new students, and have led by example of how to complete a Lesley Delivers run. As students who grew to understand the values of Lesley University through this program, returners were excited to see new students grow familiar with the idea of connecting with members in the community and erasing stereotypes of people who are hungry and homeless. Hearing new students say, "Wow, that man was really nice!" and see them become exposed to the harsh realities of living without a home or food shows just how much of an impact Lesley Delivers has on new students.

Last night, despite the rain and colder weather, we had about 17 students show up again! Some were returners from last week, and some were new faces in the crowd. We took part in actually making the sandwiches this week, rather than packing up the meals like last week. This smaller group allowed for more people to participate in handing out sandwiches and feel engaged in the program. I noticed a lot more students stepping up and personally offering the sandwiches to individuals, which made me feel really good! This small step shows that we are gaining confidence in our ability to cross that threshold and make a connection. Once the ice is broken, relationships among us and those we serve can develop and strengthen our community.

As Theresa and I walked to meet up with the group, we noticed a young person sitting with a sleeping bag along a street that isn't typically part of a LD route. We altered our route at the end of the night to accommodate for this person and make sure that they, too, received a sandwich. I was happy we did this, because it showed that we are not just falling into a routine and getting by with what we need to do. We are consistently looking for ways to improve and reach a higher potential of the amount of people we can reach in one night.

Overall, Ashley and I are very excited with the way things are going with Lesley Delivers this semester. The number of students showing up with excitement and motivation is encouraging, and it just goes to show how much potential a group of people has when they come together to make a difference. I'm looking forward to see how Lesley Delivers develops this semester and is changed for the better by the new batch of members we are gaining.

-Elissa May