Dining hall swipes buy food to feed L.A. homeless downtown

Swipes for the Homeless, a quarterly event in which UCLA students can use meal swipes to donate food to the homeless population of Los Angeles, took place Thursday and Friday of 10th week.

Jonathan Lee, a fourth-year political science student, started the food drive during his first year.

At the end of each quarter, Lee and his friends gather boxes and make signs advertising their campaign. They stand outside of Bruin Café and ask students to donate food for the homeless by swiping for extra items.

“There is something sickening about seeing immense wealth and extreme despair in such close proximity. Skid Row is literally blocks away from multimillion dollar corporations,” Lee said.

He said Swipes for the Homeless began as a fairly informal drive. He, his father and his friends went to Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles to distribute sandwiches they had collected to homeless people.

“We were actually a bit nervous the first time, because we just looked for people we thought needed food and gave it to them, and as it got late and we ran out of sandwiches, people who had lined up to get one were a little upset,” Lee said.

In subsequent years, the food drive has become more organized. Lee now makes arrangements to donate directly to shelters downtown so that there can be a more even distribution of the food to the homeless population.

One of the shelters the campaign donated to this quarter was the Downtown Women’s Center, which provides meals, Internet access and rehabilitation services to homeless women.

“We’re thankful for the help from the UCLA students who were willing to donate food because every little bit helps and shows people care,” said Latasha Chaney, who manages the Day Center building at the Downtown Women’s Center.

But on Friday, Lee said, he and his friends were told by an official from Dining Services that they were in violation of a fire code.

He said they were told they were soliciting and had to discontinue their food drive.

“I had spoken to a housing representative and thought I had taken the appropriate steps to ensure that there would not be a problem,” Lee said.

However, the official asked Lee and the other students collecting food to leave, he said.

The Office of Residential Life directed questions to UCLA Dining Services. Phone calls and a message Friday were not returned as of press time.

Lee hopes the food drive will be able to continue without problems.

“Whatever we need to do to make it happen, we will do it. We want to be able to work with the university in order to get this to work. After all, part of the UCLA mission statement says civic engagement is fundamental to our mission as a public university,” he said.

Jarell Perry, a fourth-year communications studies and political science student, said he hopes problems can be alleviated in the future so the event can continue each quarter.

A former helper with the food drive, Perry said he believes the homeless should be given the resources they need to help themselves, but it should be kept in mind that some circumstances keep people from having the ability to help themselves.

“People can’t pull themselves up by their bootstraps if they don’t even have boots,” Perry said.

Lee said he remains positive and upbeat overall, especially since his food drive was able to happen one day this quarter.

He said he has been inspired by how Swipes for the Homeless, a simple yet effective idea, has resulted in positive and inspiring outcomes.

Lee said donations by students have helped thousands, including abused women, poverty-stricken children, people living with HIV/AIDS and war veterans.

“Seeing the smiles on their faces makes everything worth it ““ heavy lifting, dealing with uncooperative people, being stuck in L.A. traffic, skipping review sessions, etcetera,” Lee said.

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