Jacob Fuhrer |
More than 100 families who would otherwise go without a Thanksgiving dinner will feast this holiday, thanks to the efforts of UP students and Bridgetown, Inc., a local service organization.
Providing Portland families with Thanksgiving baskets of perishable and nonperishable food was a mission led by Phu Nguyen, Angela Hudson, Claire Kenneally and Tyler Tennant, all social justice coordinators (SJC).
Hudson, the SJC for Corrado Hall, said they chose Bridgetown because the organization has worked with UP before.
They also worked with Bon Appetit, which allowed students to donate up to 7,000 points from their meal plans and towards filling food baskets for Portland families. Some students even donated 400 points at once.
“I was really surprised at the amount of people we got wanting to donate points,” Hudson said. “After we met our goal of 7,000 points, people still came up to me [to donate].”
Nguyen, Schoenfeldt Hall’s SJC, said this basket drive is different from most UP volunteer opportunities.
“This [drive] is significant because a student is able to participate in the entire donation from beginning to end,” he said.
In addition to assembling the baskets, students will deliver them to families this Sunday, with the goal of witnessing community issues.
“We get so wrapped up in our own lives,” Hudson said. “I want to get people thinking about more than themselves.”
To do this, the team brought Zach Clark, director of environments for Bridgetown, to speak about the difference between compassion and pity. Clark said there are plenty of people full of pity, but that people should be compassionate instead. The difference, he said, is action.
“I think our response should be that when we see a problem we reach out and do something,” he said.
Clark said the Thanksgiving basket drive is a great way for people to physically get involved and help with not only the growing hunger problem, but also the psychological impact on young children.
The small act of donating meal points, he said, can translate into a child having an authentic Thanksgiving, a memory that lasts far longer than a dinner of turkey and mashed potatoes.
“It’s not just 400 mouths you’re feeding,” he said. “You’re impacting a memory.” Jacob Fuhrer is a reporter for The Beacon. He can be reached at fuhrer17@up.edu.
