Sarah Tin, coordinator of CALPIRG’s hunger and
homelessness relief program, looked to both a fellow volunteer and
a Nobel Prize-winning humanitarian for inspiration to lead nearly
100 college and high school students to combat hunger and
homelessness in the Los Angeles area Saturday, during the
organization’s 20th annual Hunger Cleanup.
“One of the people I’m working closely with, she
made this comment on Mother Teresa and about how she said homeless
people don’t really need physical homes, they need homes for
their hearts,” Tin said, adding the comment made her realize
what the day was about.
Though Tin was disappointed that the turnout was about 50 people
fewer than expected and the money raised was about half of what was
hoped for, volunteers and coordinators took pleasure in serving the
underprivileged in the community.
The cleanup raised close to $1,200 for the global organization
Habitat for Humanity; the goal had been $3,000.
About 75 UCLA students and 25 students from Notre Dame High
School in Sherman Oaks traveled to seven different locations
throughout Los Angeles to work on various projects.
Students stationed at the Fred Jordan Mission on Skid Row
““ a 50-block area in downtown Los Angeles ““
participated in carnival games and donated Easter baskets to
homeless children.
At the MJB Transitional Recovery Center, students painted three
apartment units and got the opportunity to meet some of the
center’s residents at the end of the day.
“The lady who lived there came by and expressed her
gratitude. “¦ She was delighted and it seemed like it made a
difference,” said first-year political science student Puja
Bhatia.
Still, Tin said she had hoped the group could have made more of
a difference. Faced with high school students on spring break and
many others celebrating religious holidays, it was frustrating the
event could not be a greater success, Tin said.
“But, it was also a blessing in disguise,” she
quickly added, saying it gave her an opportunity to do more work
rather than simply oversee the work. “What I really want to
be doing is hands-on work.”
Co-coordinator Jenny Scheng agreed the work spoke for itself.
“A lot of shelters needed repair and paint jobs. We were able
to help them out,” she said.
With 35 million Americans experiencing hunger and 3.5 million
facing homelessness every year, Tin said it is important to
encourage volunteering, especially on a college campus.
“Homelessness is not a popular issue,” she said.
When a homeless person is noted, “you walk on the other side
of the street “¦ we have this stereotype that they are just
lazy.”
And that is certainly not the case, Bhatia says.
“Students don’t tend to realize “¦ (the
homeless) are human and it can happen to anybody,” she said.
“It is not an extraordinary circumstance.”