The Giving Season Brings a Chance to Learn About Service

Homeless Assistance Project

Last December, Ari Bank, an assistant professor of English at Community College of Philadelphia, told his wife, Kirsten Quinn, that all he wanted for Christmas were donations to his favorite charities. Quinn, an associate professor of English at the College complied, gifting him as well with a bag of “care packages” to give to people without homes.

Taking a chance, Bank brought a few of the packages to the College to show members of the International Student Association (ISA), where he is the faculty advisor. Maybe, just maybe, he thought, his students could take the idea and run with it.

They didn’t just run, they sprinted.

Students began making and designing their own care packages, which included socks, underwear, soap, shampoo, body moisturizer and $5 Wawa gift cards. ISA’ s enthusiasm turned the project into a campus-wide activity and led to a ceremony where over 100 packages were donated to Project HOME, a nonprofit that assists and empowers men and women in need. The Homeless Assistance Project was born.

In November, undeterred by the rain, students, faculty and staff packed a van to the brim with care. Student organizers plan to sustain the effort annually through a social media challenge, asking other campuses to commit to change, as they have.

Maryam Yusef, a student from Nigeria participating in the service learning project, said she witnessed institutional homelessness in her hometown of Kaduna — orphanages filled with children who often stayed for years with little access to food, hygiene or education.

“We wanted to do this project so we could help other people,” said Yusef, who says she always keeps extra snacks and juice to give to people on the train. “Not everybody has the heart to help, but when you help you feel so good.”

As these compassionate students were discovering ways to help the city, others at the College, including a growing list of donors, are finding ways to help college students, some of whom face severe challenges and obstacles, including hunger and homelessness. A recent New York Times Op Ed reported that just over half of community college students are at risk of hunger and homelessness.

Each year, just before Thanksgiving, the College gives more than $7,000 worth of grocery gift cards to students courtesy of the Pincus Family Foundation. In addition, the Homeless Student Support Project provides resources to students who are facing homelessness or are food insecure. A free, for-students from-students food pantry is also in the final planning stages, sponsored by the Student Government Association and Single Stop USA, a one-stop organization that connects students to social services and resources.  In addition, various faculty and staff members contribute each year to provide supermarket gift certificates for students and their families in need. In addition, the College faculty and staff this year made holiday cards for servicemen.

In Bank’s view, the holiday season is the perfect time to blend life lessons with English coursework. Banks developed writing assignments that helped students grow, as writers, problem-solvers and community responders.

“They had to write an essay offering their emotional reactions (to homelessness) and think of viable solutions,” said Bank, whose English 101 reading list includes such titles as My Name is Malala, by Malala Yousafzai, Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northrup  and Elie Weisel’s Night . “The idea is to become socially aware.”

Reiterating his philosophy of combining academia and the social good, Banks keep a quote from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. close by, to remind him of the importance of community service.

It serves as a constant reminder:  “The time is always right to do what is right.”