Dr. Michele Wakin (left) and Danielle Robidoux with some of the sorted donations

In the Spirit of Giving

Posted on December 15, 2009 - Permalink
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Campus community members recently showed they were in the giving spirit, collecting and donating an abundance of non-perishable goods - including more than one ton of food - for regional direct-care agencies during National Homelessness Awareness Week.

From Nov. 15-24, Dr. Michele Wakin, assistant professor of sociology and founding chair of the college's Task Force to End Homelessness, led one charity drive where collection bins were placed in numerous locations around campus. The bins were provided by Mary Cahill, Transportation Office, and the effort was supported by many faculty, staff and students.

Many items were collected during that drive, including clothes, non-perishable food, coffee/hot chocolate mix, toiletries, diapers/wipes, linens, blankets and bath towels, among other things. The donations were delivered last week to the Bridgewater Food Pantry; Old Colony YMCA Family Life Center, Father Bills/Mainspring and St. Paul's Table, all in Brockton; and Woman's Place Crisis Center in Fall River.

This was the drive's first year, and Dr. Wakin said, "It should keep getting bigger and bigger each year."

Also during that week, all the campus dining halls participated in Sodexho's national charity drive, gathering 2,039 total pounds of food to donate to Bridgewater Food Pantry. As part of the effort, campus community members would bring in their own non-perishables, buy premade bags of goods to be donated, or they would donate money for food purchases. The dining hall employees also collected contributions from local restaurants.

Students who participated in Social Justice League's Tent City event held during that week also collected a fair share of donations.

Dedham native Danielle Robidoux, a senior and SJL member, said, "The people on campus who donated, donated a lot."

Scott Enos, director of Central Receiving and Inventory Management, along with his student employees, delivered the donations collected by Dr. Wakin's drive and the SJL. He said, "Just to have anyone donate anything in today's troubling economic condition is amazing."(Story and photo by Rob Matheson, Office of Institutional Communications)