Think about that feeling you get while driving near Ben White and at almost every intersection you see a person sitting there with a sign asking for spare change. It’s not a very good feeling–especially when you’re in a rush or don’t have any cash to spare. There’s over 2,300 homeless people in Austin and 900 of those individuals are “chronically homeless” meaning they have been homeless for over one year, according to AustinTexas.gov, the official website for the city of Austin.
In response to this awful feeling, I decided I needed to do something about it–a GoFundMe campaign called “Give Back ATX!” in order to raise money to buy items that homeless Austinites will need to get through the cold season. Our goal is to make care packages including warm clothing (jackets, sweaters, flannels), non perishable food and water bottles to eventually hand out to the homeless community surrounding the St. Edward’s campus. The GoFundMe campaign will raise money to buy the warm clothing and our hope is that the St. Edward’s community will donate non-perishable food items and water bottles. So if you’re wondering what to do with all that extra meal plan, consider using it to purchase food items that will be donated to those in need.
Right now, over half of our goal of $200 has been reached and hopefully this is a sign that together we will be able to exceed the $200 mark. In that case, we would be able to buy even more clothing so that we can give out more care packages than expected. You can donate to the GoFundMe here. The donation box for non-perishable food and water bottles can be found at the LeMans front desk in the Village, for those of you who go to St. Edward’s University. Non-perishable foods and water bottles that can be purchased with meal plan can be found at Outtakes in the Hunt Cafe as well as Jo’s in Ragsdale and Doyle.
Winter break starts the second week of December and the plan is to distribute the care packages in early December. If you want to help, donate,or have any questions about the cause, feel free to contact kszendre@stedwards.edu. We appreciate all of the donations and help given to make this idea a reality.