On October 2, college students got together to make “Masks and Snacks” possible. Following social distance protocols, a few of them made peanut-butter and jelly sandwiches for the homeless. Others contributed donations to fund the disposable masks and gatorade that were to be distributed. This group of students live in Philadelphia and see the homeless along their way to work, to the grocery store, and are cognizant of the differences between themselves and the homeless they pass by daily. With this in mind and the growing struggles of the global pandemic, they wanted to provide some security to this population. The homeless are a vulnerable population to Covid-19 with no healthcare and limited sanitation opportunities.
Students who had gotten tested earlier in the week spread peanut butter and jelly to make healthy sandwiches.
5,700 homeless shelter residents in Philadelphia have died from COVID-19. The homeless people living on the streets are not even counted for in those statistics as they have limited data collection and can be considered the “invisible victims” of this pandemic. It is this population that the group of Drexel University students wanted to reach out to with preventative healthcare. Healthy food, electrolytes, and most importantly extra masks are what they started with. However, these items were not donated to a homeless shelter. Instead they were distributed to those inhabiting Philadelphia’s transportation system.
The homeless in Philadelphia on transportation systems are particularly vulnerable to Covid-19.
Starting from Philadelphia’s Septa 34th street station to 69th street station, the group of students gave out masks, gatorade, and sandwiches. They noticed only a few homeless people actually on the subway trains but a whole community of them at 69th street station. Disguised as people simply waiting for their bus to come or waiting to get on the train, many sat on the steps and benches around the station. One group of them even directed us to another area of the station where more were sitting, saying “Go there now, they need more help than me.” The selfless attitude of the man who said this pleasantly surprised the Drexel students. They were making a visible difference to a population who clearly needed it.
Although disposable masks were donated, the group is looking to distribute reusable masks now, and are actively looking for donations (email hetal@ch2i.org if interested).
Healthcare is important whether it be visiting doctors for an illness or staying healthy by eating well and wearing a mask. In the future these Drexel students look forward to making more impacts like this, possibly distributing umbrellas and items used to stay dry when it rains and snows. Staying warm and dry are critical to staying healthy and so this is their next effort to help the homeless. If you would like to help them reach out to hetal@ch2i.org.