The chasm between rich and poor, fed and hungry in Los Angeles
became crystal clear Saturday to about 20 UCLA students who
distributed goods to the homeless on Skid Row.
Many students also volunteered to make sandwiches on their way
to and from class Friday as part of the California Public Interest
Research Group’s Annual Hunger Cleanup. A booth was set up on
Bruin Walk where roughly 100 students made sandwiches.
Toiletries were donated by Ralphs and by Ralphs shoppers.
Students stood outside of the store last quarter and asked shoppers
to buy toiletries in the store and give them to CalPIRG on their
way out.
CalPIRG is a watchdog group founded by Ralph Nader in 1973 to
advocate the general public’s well being.
Half of the volunteers Saturday said they weren’t members
of CalPIRG, but that this cause was something they wanted to
contribute to.
Third-year chemical engineering student and UCLA chapter
Chairwoman Erin Walsh said she felt she was in a friendly community
while at Skid Row.
Skid Row is an area in downtown Los Angeles where both homeless
people and services for them are concentrated.
“I felt welcomed, people were thankful that we had hygiene
supplies and sandwiches. It was fun,” Walsh said.
Most of the homeless beneficiaries of the effort expressed
gratitude for the contributions.
“I think it’s very necessary here downtown “¦
it helps so much when you’re able to have people from the
right kind of environment, to remind the kids that they don’t
have to live like this,” said Andrea Goodlett, a homeless
woman currently on Skid Row.
UCLA Campaign Coordinator Mark Thornton, a second-year history
student, said helping the homeless is especially important now
because the City of Santa Monica recently passed an ordinance
requiring charitable groups to abide by restaurant codes when
handing out food in public places.
This amounts to an almost insurmountable barrier for many
smaller charitable organizations.
“Santa Monica set a precedent, and I think it’s a
dangerous precedent,” Thornton said.
Thornton said this law will push homeless from Santa Monica to
other areas, such as Westwood. He said he takes issue with laws
that drive out transients rather than helping them.
Lt. Frank Fabrega of the Santa Monica Police Department said
such laws are in response to spoiled food that had been served.
“All it has to do with is whether they are going to be fed
in a sanitary and healthy manner,” Fabrega said.
Recently, business owners in Westwood have been pushing for new
laws to curtail the presence of homeless people. Merchants formed a
“Business Watch” this year to lower crime and
transience in the area.
Homeless people may be attracted to the area partly because of
the generosity of UCLA students who live nearby.
Police who enforce these laws appear harassing to some, but
Deputy Rick Varela of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s
department said the police are misunderstood.
“The area of the homeless is particularly sticky because
everyone wants to help them, but no one wants them on their front
lawn … all we can do is enforce the law,” Varela said.