By Corbin Johnson
Xavier’s annual Hunger Coalition Day was a day where faculty and staff came together to sort donated household goods, inventory donated household items, make bedding, and kitchen and toiletry kits on Sep. 12, 2022.
The event allowed students to help do their part to combat world hunger and homelessness that is a problem on the streets of many major cities. The organizers of the event collaborated with New Orleans Mission, Grace by Greenlight, and Unity Orleans to help serve those who are less than fortunate with food, bedding, and giving many of the homeless residents gardening projects to do.
“Helping the homelessness has been a passion of mine since I was a child,” said Justine Abrams, the founder of Hunger Coalition. “My parents were in the medical field, and seeing them help people has inspired me to do the same,” Abrams said.
Students were given pamphlets to show what kind of goods were needed to be donated, and were given job opportunities that they can apply for through the event. The purpose of this event was to help people understand that there are others out there who do not have the necessities they already have.
“I’ve been working at homeless shelters almost my entire life,” said Blair Everwood, a New Orleans native who works at the Harry Thompson Center. “I’m really happy to be here today and share with Xavier students the things they could be doing to help the homeless,” she said. “It’s good to be here and help create items with Xavier, that will be necessary for homeless people to have,” she added.
The event brought in many people as they wanted to learn about the ways that they can help. Many students interacted with each other and learned about the ways that they can give back. They learned all of the basics such as donating goods, making kits for them to clean, and even preparing homecooked meals.
“I chose to come here to learn about a subject that I never realized was that important,” said Aria Fields, an English major. “It’s so nice to finally do something different because it’s so refreshing to learn about new subjects that can be beneficial to you,” Fields said. “I think everyone should volunteer every once in a while to a shelter to see that there’s some good that you can do,” she added.
