In our country this time of year is seen as an occasion for giving and generosity. There is no exception here at Cabrini College.
The Cabrini Dining Services, in partnership with the Wolfington Center, have collected cans and donations as part of their annual Helping Hands Across America Food Drive. The food drive will directly benefit the Norristown Hospitality Shelter.
Helping Hands Across America is a way of giving back to your local community members in need. Cabrini has been partnered with the Norristown area on many occasions and this was just another example.
“The cans, over 150 pounds, along with $280 in cash will be donated to the Norristown Hospitality Shelter,” Drew Niemann, general manager of Cabrini Dining Services, said.
The Wolfington Center was able to spread throughout the campus large bins for collections to be placed in. They were seen in the Marketplace, Founder’s Hall and the Holy Spirit Library.
This year marks the fourth year in a row that the Dining Services have partnered to collect can goods around the Thanksgiving time of year.
“They are the ones that actually collect the cans from around campus, count and sort, and then deliver to the shelter,” Niemann said.
The act of organizing this can food drive is an honorable thing but could never have been completed without the help of students who are taking the food themselves to the Norristown Hospitality Shelter.
“It’s a great way of helping a local community,” Jackie Ozzimo, history and political science major, said.
Everyone around Thanksgiving time is grateful for what they have and in turn most people try to help others. This is an act that should be replicated throughout the entire calendar year because the people that receive these donations are not only needy during holidays, but throughout all 12 months.
“Giving is something that should be constant, year round, ” Ozzimo said.
This is something that the Helping Hands community is trying to stress to donators and anyone else who sees these blue bins. The act of kindness is always in need and should not be stored for special occasions, but spread through the duration of the entire year.
Through the Wolfington Center there are a wide variety of ways for any student to get involved. This Helping Hands Across America Food Drive is just another way of working with a local partnership to help improve someone else’s life.
Many Cabrini students, such as Ozzimo, perform other charity works in the Norristown area also.
“I help work with young children in the Norristown area and knowing that some of this food might go to them is a special feeling,” Ozzimo said.
