Spring Break
Lending a Hand
Catherine Klene, News Reporter
Issue date: 1/30/07 Section: News
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Alestle News Reporter
As the icy wind cut through the overcast Saturday morning, volunteer coordinator Schannon Dial and three SIUE students crammed into a minivan filled with scalloped potatoes, pork and beans, hot chocolate and Ho Hos.
A picnic in frigid January? Not quite.
Students Myrisha Wicks, Dominque Cole, Brittany Ballentine and Leslie Jones joined Dial and Suzanne Kutterer-Sibert, Assistant Director of Leadership Development Program, as they drove to East St. Louis to feed the homeless.
The SIUE Homeless Program offers student volunteers the opportunity to serve a hot meal and a kind word to those living on the streets.
Essentially, the volunteers prepare food and drive through the streets of East St. Louis offering homeless individuals a warm meal and blankets to guard against the biting winter temperatures, according to Kutterer-Sibert.
For sophomores Cole and Ballentine, Saturday was their first experience with the SIUE Homeless Program.
"Helping other people always excites me," psychology major Ballentine said.
"It's the warm fuzzies," Dial said.
"Yeah, it's kind of like an adrenaline rush," Ballentine said. "You feel better afterward."
Cole, a nursing student, said she was not sure what to expect.
"I've never really gone out and looked around or anything like that," Cole said.
While she was excited to help, Cole worried about hurting someone's pride.
"Sometimes people take it negatively, I think," Cole said. "Some people think we're feeling sorry for them."
Wicks worked on the SIUE Homeless Program in the past as part of her volunteer administration course for her master's degree in public administration and policy analysis.
"I do like helping others, that's a motive behind it as well," Wicks said. "I do it because I like to contribute back to society."
When the volunteers arrived in the streets of East St. Louis, the van pulled into Continuum of Life Care Center, where Director Paulyn Snyder took the students to the back room and immediately sent them to work.
Cole began to wrap plastic forks into paper napkins, while Wicks sliced and bagged pieces of pies and cupcakes.
Ballentine and Jones began to sort through mountains of donated clothing.
"We separated the clothes according to size and gender," Jones said.
Jones, a senior in marketing, said this was her eighth trip with the SIUE Homeless Program.
"I've always grown up (thinking) that you should help other people," Jones said. "That's something that my parents emphasized when I was younger. … I try to do two Saturdays a month."
After an hour of sorting and organizing, the volunteers managed to load food and utensils in the back of the van, and Ballentine and Jones set up a "little store" full of blankets and clothing in the trunk of a car.
"Here's accessories," Ballentine said, gesturing to hats and socks. "And here's apparel," she said, pointing at a stack of sweatshirts.
Snyder said Continuum of Life receives money and items from all over the area.
"Different people make different donations," Snyder said. SIUE recently donated $1,200 in proceeds from the 2006 Box City to the Care Center.
The volunteers then climbed back into the vehicles and set off on a dizzying route of side roads and alleys, searching for anyone who might need help.
Just off Interstate 64, Dial pointed out one location among a pile of uncut weeds where some homeless people often stay, marked only by a jumble of beat up couches, car seats ripped from the vehicles and piles of what others would consider trash.
"It certainly puts it into perspective," Dial said. "It makes me realize I'm going to bed tonight full, loved and warm."
The cars stopped briefly under an overpass, and Kutterer-Sibert pointed up into dim crevices of the highway's underbelly. A dirty pillow and tattered floral blanket were barely visible.
"The cars going across the bridge can produce heat, which makes it a little bit warmer," Kutterer-Sibert explained. "They sleep there."
Next, the cars pulled up in front of an abandoned, three-story building.
As she wrenched open the front door, Kutter-Sibert explained that as many as 35 to 50 homeless people could seek shelter in this building at one time.
The interior was covered in layers of dust and grime, and piles of crumbled plaster and garbage littered the blue and white marble floor. Liquor bottles, food wrappers, a child's shoe and a Pooh Bear bottle were buried among the trash.
Although no one came out, Kutterer-Sibert instructed the volunteers to prepare 15 plates of food for when the inhabitants returned.
Cole could not believe people were forced to take shelter in the decaying building.
"This is ridiculous," Cole said as she stacked Styrofoam boxes of food on a lone table. "No one should have to go through this."
The next and final stop of the day was just off St. Louis Road. The vehicles pulled over and Kutterer-Sibert asked a group of men standing on a corner if they would like a hot meal. The volunteers quickly began serving meals and distributing blankets and warm clothing from the trunks.
As more homeless men and women arrived, the volunteers offered their services.
"Would you like this blanket?" Wicks asked one woman, holding up a pink and white afghan.
The woman nodded, and Wicks wrapped it snuggly around her shoulders.
"I've wanted to cry twice today already," Cole said as she ladled out pork and beans into a tray.
While some who came for food were silent, one woman spoke at length with the volunteers, telling them of the hardships in her life. The woman told them her daughter and her grandchildren were recently killed. Tears came to the woman's eyes as she asked the group to pray with her.
"Lord, thank you for my blessings," the woman said.
As she prayed for her daughter and grandchildren, tears began to fall from her eyes and the volunteers'. At the end of her prayer, Dial hugged the crying woman as the students wiped their faces.
When nearly all the food was gone, the volunteers packed up their serving utensils and climbed into the vehicles. For a few moments, reflective silence filled the minivan as the volunteers thought about all they had experienced.
"I enjoyed it," Cole said. "I really wasn't that aware that there were a lot of people out there who didn't have food or clothing."
Cole said for her, the most meaningful moment came when they prayed with the homeless woman.
"The lady who lost her family members, she wasn't complaining," Cole said. "She was still grateful and thankful for living. That was really moving."
Others said the experience showed them just how lucky they really were.
"It is definitely an eye-opener," Jones said. "You get comfortable in your lifestyle, but then you see how destitute some people are so close to the university."
Wicks felt the best part of volunteering was the knowledge that she made a difference.
"I felt that the volunteer experience was fulfilling," Wicks said. "It wasn't just about getting out and giving out things, but you were actually making an impact in people's lives."
Dial believes change is only possible if each person contributes.
"The only way we are ever going to promote change in our world, in our community, in our society, is if we take a little bit of something from us and give back to our community," Dial said. "And so many times, people are privileged beyond recognition, and this (volunteering) puts it into perspective."
Wicks encouraged other students to volunteer and create change.
"It makes a difference. You can make an impact on the community. It's very important to try and give back as much as possible," Wicks said. "I would just like to let them know that it does work."
Students interested in volunteering can attend the Volunteer Fair in Morris University Center from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday.
More than 26 area organizations will be available for students to meet with and talk about volunteering. The event is sponsored by the Kimmel Leadership Center.
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