A Letter from the Co-President

Walking out into Harvard Square, I was reminded of just how many faces there are- young, old, women, men – each with a different story to tell. And if you look too quickly, too caught up in the hustle and bustle of a busy night out, with too many places to go, they might just slip right by. But these faces are not just faces, not just part of the city scenery. They are people. People with thoughts and hopes, people with emotions, people with needs just like the ones that we experience each and every day. They are not the faces we walk by on Tuesday night; they are the people that we have the privilege of meeting.

Brown bags in hand, the students of Lesley Delivers set out on Tuesday night, sandwiches in hand to offer to anyone who might want to take one. With such a large group of students joining us on our first Tuesday night, our two groups walked separately into the Square – one group taking the route towards the Tannery and the other taking the route past Au Bon Pain. After crossing the street, my group gathered by the Pit, the sunken stone area so famously named for the main hub of the Harvard Square T Station. Here, everyone was encouraged to grab a sandwich if they felt comfortable handing one out – and so we began our run.

Although I have been participating in Lesley Delivers since the beginning of my freshman year, there have never been two runs that are exactly the same and this first run of the year was no exception. While the uncertainty can be a little nerve-wracking at times, I think it is what makes the experience so powerful. Life can only be scheduled and planned so much before it begins to take on a mind of its own – and those unexpected experiences can often be the most gratifying of all. As a group, we can anticipate meeting any given number of people, but then we miss the opportunity to make a personal connection. Walking by Au Bon Pain and past other storefronts as we made our way up the street, I was reminded of exactly that when a few students in the group brought something to my attention.

On our way up the street, a few girls had noticed a gentleman lying down alongside one of the stonewalls of Panera on a side street. Wondering whether or not they should offer him a sandwich, they asked me if it might be a good idea to go and leave one beside him. As focused as I had been on making sure the group stayed together and approached anyone we might have seen on the main part of the street, I had not even been aware of the man that they had seen. Taking the three girls over with me to leave a sandwich, it was a pleasant surprise when the man woke up. We were then able to ask him himself if he wanted the sandwich, juice box, and granola bar we had to offer, and he took it with a smile and thanked us. After wishing him a good night, we walked away to join the group, but the experience is something that has still resonated with me, even a few weeks later. I can’t thank our wonderful Lesley Delivers students enough for the reminder they gave me – to look for the people and not just the faces – and I can’t wait for a wonderful year ahead J



~ Hannah W.

Thoughts from VIP Night.

Thank you for inviting me to join you last night for Lesley Delivers.

While it was called VIP Night, the true VIPs are you, the students!

I was impressed with your organization, your enthusiasm, and most of all, your sensitivity to the needs of the people we visited. Your thoughtfulness, respect, and kindness to the individuals in Harvard Square you have come to know is amazing, and I was never prouder of Lesley students than I was last night.

Thank you for inviting me, and thank you for what you are contributing to the Cambridge community each week.

Alice Diamond

Wise Words from the "Standing Around Committee"

We all have a routine. We all wake up with some sort of idea of what we are going to be doing that day.

On Tuesday nights on campus we make sandwiches. On average they are peanut butter and jelly that go into a bag that has been decorated with pretty designs. We call this weekly act Lesley Delivers. Every Tuesday, (pretty much) I go out with my fellow classmates and give out sandwiches to the homeless. It’s something I look forward to and really enjoy doing. It’s a very active way of helping people. For the most part, we normally only interact with each other, and the people we are serving. Very rarely do we interact with random bystanders going about their day. We head out to Harvard square in Cambridge at around 10 at night so the streets are normally pretty dead. Normally. 

This past Tuesday we were expecting a big snowstorm. It was cold out and the streets were more packed with bystanders then I was use to. I found myself bumping into people on our route and surprised at how many people there were. One this particular route, we stop at the Harvard T stop. There are usually people there and we stand there for a bit and talk to them. We ask if they want a sandwich or any of the other items we had with us: hats, a blanket, or hand warmers. As we stood there, a man walked through us, sort of shoving us out of the way. While he did this he said “What is this the standing around committee”

I really want to give this guy the benefit of the doubt. I want to think he was just having a bad day, he wanted to get home and was just tying to get to the train.

I want to believe that he was just having a bad day and his comment just came out of frustration of the day and not directed at us. I really want to believe all that.

But the thing is, for whatever reason he said it. That we were the standing around committee. That a bunch of young college students who were feeding the homeless, were just standing around in the cold for fun. We were helping. We were serving. We were helping people. He was not.

I don’t want this to come off like we are all that matters or something. I don’t want this is even come off like it was even that big of a deal. He just looked at what was going on, a made a judgment about what he saw that was not accurate at all. He was just trying to get home, and we were just trying to help people. I’m sure he got home, and I’m even surer that even though we didn’t give out many sandwiches that night, we helped 

people.

I know that every Tuesday we will continue our service in helping. I also know that there will be people there and might be wondering what we are doing. My hope is that the people we encounter see the good we are doing and not just as "standing around".

-Brittany