Braving the frigid temperatures while asking favors of complete strangers, a group of students from Queensborough Community College and Queens College spent a good portion of their Good Friday outside a local Waldbaums collecting canned goods for homeless children.
Fifteen members from the New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG), a not-for-profit student-directed advocacy organization with chapters on 20 college campuses, participated in "Stuff-A-Van" a food drive for the homeless.
From noon to 6 p.m. they stood outside the supermarket asking customers to buy an extra item of food for Hour Children Inc., an Astoria-based charity group that cares for the children of incarcerated mothers.
The event is a grass-roots effort to address the issue of homelessness which, according to the Coalition For The Homeless, is growing rapidly out of control. The number of homeless children and adults sleeping in New York City shelters reached unprecedented levels this year with more than 38,000 living in shelters and welfare hotels during the month of March. Of that number, 16,615 were children. Early in the day, because of freezing temperatures, many of the Waldbaums shoppers were unreceptive and hurried past the students on their way into the store as if they were avoiding a strip search. For the students, volunteering can often be an unglamorous yet rewarding way to spend an afternoon.
"Were used to tolerating stuff like that, people throwing the flyers that we hand them on the ground," said Kenneth Goldsman, a sophomore at Queens College in his third semester volunteering for NYPIRG. "This is just something that I enjoy doing. Its a little dead right now, but it should pick up later in the afternoon."
"Stuff-a-Van" is one of a series of monthly programs presented by NYPIRGs Homeless Outreach Campaign, which included a Baby Shower in March where diapers, clothes, and food items were collected for homeless mothers and the "Sandwich Brigade" in May in which students will make peanut-butter and jelly sandwiches for the homeless.
Last November, the students raised $1,000 and collected over 500 canned goods from "Jam If You Can," a dance-a-thon that charged $5 per person for admission and received a larger than expected turnout. Even though Friday mornings crowd was fairly luke-warm to their advances, last year the students collected over 200 canned goods from customers at Waldbaums. For Aram Dikili, the stores manager, the food drive is a good way to give back to the community, just as long as the events organizers dont use the store and the occasion for their own personal and commercial gain.
"I have all types of organizations calling me asking to do events here, but this one is good because its a not-for-profit group that isnt interested in advertising for themselves or making themselves money. They do this because they want to help the homeless. Once the customers here know whats going on, people buy a couple of cans each and the food really begins to pile up. Its a good cause."
The program couldnt come at a better time. Mayor Michael Bloombergs proposed budget cuts slash $17.8 million in programs from the Department of Homeless Services, and his contingency plan, which will take effect if the city is not given assistance from the state government, will eliminate funding for 21 street outreach teams and eight drop-in centers for homeless not living in shelters.
"Our goal this semester is to have food pantries better stocked with food, especially in these hard times," said John Clarke, the NYPIRGs Homeless Outreach Campaign Project leader at Queens College. "A food drive is a great way to immediately help the hungry. Our goal is to help in a big way, and since Mothers Day is just around the corner, we thought it was appropriate to pick Hour Children to donate food to. Were here today to do our part to help alleviate what has become an unfortunate reality in these times of crisis."
