Head off Fairfield’s campus and onto Post Road. Take a right and you’ll come across fancy Italian restaurants, jewelry stores and shopping plazas. Or take a left, and you’ll reach Connecticut’s largest city and one of the nation’s poorest – Bridgeport.
Inside the safe walls of campus and surrounded by Fairfield’s quiet neighborhoods, it would be easy for students to forget about the poverty stricken city down the street. Some students, however, refuse to ignore it.
For 18 years, Fairfield University students have participated in the national Hunger Clean-Up, an operation run by the National Student Campaign Against Hunger and Homelessness (NSCAHH).
On Saturday April 1, teams of Fairfield students will roll up their sleeves and head out to about 40 different local sites for a three hour work-a-thon, according to Hunger Clean-Up Executive Board Member Angela Lively ’06.
“It’s a great thing for students to get involved with because it’s just one morning,” said Meghan Shea ’08, also a member of the executive board. “And you can form teams with your friends, so it’s a lot of fun.”
The teams are sent out into the community to work at various places that need aid. The work may involve anything from washing windows at a senior center to gardening and cleaning up local parks. To participate, students donate money or are sponsored by friends and family to work, according to Shea.
“Last year we raised close to $8,000,” said Lively. “We’re trying to raise $10,000 this year, but of course, anything above that would be amazing!”
Fairfield received a Bronze Medal Award of Excellence last year for the amount it raised last year, as well as a citation for “top schools participation” for the 318 university volunteers, according to the Hunger Clean-Up website.
Half of the money raised goes to the NSCAHH organization and the other half is divided among three or four local charities chosen by the Hunger Clean-up Board. This year, the money will be divided among Harrison Apartments, Head Start, Kings Pantry and Kitchen of Hope, according to Lively.
But the day is not just all work and no play. After spending the morning volunteering, students are invited to a party at the Levee. Food will be donated by local restaurants such as Dunkin Donuts, Chef’s’ Table, Ole Mole, Dominos and many others.
In addition, a variety of prizes, including gift certificates to local restaurants, the theater and the university bookstore will be given out, according to Shea.
“We hope to have 400 volunteers this year. Faculty and staff participate, but most participants are students,” said the faculty advisor Suzanne MacAvoy.
Students who have already signed up are excited about the upcoming day.
“I saw the sign-up table in the BCC and it sounded like such a good cause. For a small amount of time and money, it seems like it helps the community in a hugely positive way,” said Katie Barry ’08.
According to the Website, www.hungercleanup.org, more than 38 million Americans face hunger or food insecurity, and 13 million experience homelessness every year.
To counter these frightening statistics, Fairfield students have a chance to make a difference. The Hunger Clean-up will take place on Saturday, April 1, with the work being done from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. To donate or volunteer, e-mail hungercleanup@stagweb.fairfield.edu.
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