The California Public Interest Research Group’s 19th
annual Hunger Cleanup on Saturday dispatched over 50 student
volunteers to homeless shelters, food banks, community gardens and
community playgrounds in Los Angeles.
Traditionally coordinated by CALPIRG, this year the event was
co-sponsored by the Community Service Commission’s Hunger
Project, the LA Water Project and Circle K.
In addition to volunteering, most students raised money that
went to local shelters and national efforts against hunger and
homelessness.
CALPIRG UCLA campus coordinator Becky Kammerling said the name
of the event is meant to symbolize a sweep through the
community.
“The idea is to give a helping hand to a bunch of
organizations who help and fight every single day against hunger
and homelessness,” she said.
Before splitting up to go to 12 work sites, Community Service
Commissioner Suzanne Yu and formerly homeless Biola Shofu explained
to the volunteers the importance of community service.
Shofu, a poet, artist and public speaker, struggled with
homelessness for almost two years before coming to the Upward Bound
House, one of Saturday’s work sites, and saving up enough
money to buy a home for her and her children.
“When you are homeless, your perspective on life
changes,” she said. “You can’t relate to people
because they can’t relate to you.”
Shofu explained the issues facing the homeless that people need
to be aware of.
“Homeless people have no relatives and no support, so they
are not stable,” she said. “And you have to be stable
to get a job.”
She thanked students for their efforts and homelessness relief
efforts have helped her fulfill her dreams.
“Now I live in a house with a yard in a beautiful area. I
had been dreaming of living in a house with a yard for three years
before being evicted. The relief is real,” she said.
Volunteers at the Upward Bound House on Saturday found most of
the children of the 22 resident families on a field trip.
The Santa Monica based transitional shelter boasts a 96 percent
success rate in placing its residents in stable jobs and homes.
Volunteers mopped floors, pulled weeds in the garden, and played
basketball with a child who had not gone on the field trip. The
general consensus was that the manual labor was fun and
rewarding.
Although a few CALPIRG members usually volunteer weekly at the
Upward Bound House, Saturday’s volunteers took care of
maintenance so that regular staff could focus on other things.
Event organizer Erwin Lau said the purpose of the Hunger Cleanup
was about the long-term difference that could be made, rather than
the single event.
“A single day of activism is simply a single day. But the
sheer number of people coming out creates awareness in the
community,” he said.
Lau said he hoped to inspire the community to take action
against society’s problems.
“The goal was to leave the community with good done, which
we did. But I wanted to educate the UCLA population and get them to
realize that a lot of people with the same altruistic goals can do
a lot of good,” he said.