Lend a Helping Hand to a Neighbor In Need

Lend a Helping Hand to a Neighbor In Need

By: Lynette Perez

Stressed, overtired, overworked, overloaded, broke, hungry, yet happy. Do these adjectives apply to you? If so, you have more in common with a homeless person than you think.

As students who are burdened by a heavy work load, we often set ourselves apart from others, when we should really come together and invest a fraction of our time to help those who need it the most.

Although the community Manhattan College is located in seems to be an affluent one, there are still people around in need of food and a place to stay.

Only two blocks away from the back entrance of MC sits the Riverdale Yonkers Society for Ethical Culture. The society, formed in 1966 is a non-profit organization that encourages social action within our community.

In an interview with Grace Cobbina, office manager of RYSEC for 18 years, she explained how the society participates in “The Emergency Overnight Shelter for Homeless men, The Interfaith Food and Hunger Project, and The Greater NY Blood Program” among a lengthy list of other projects.

Every Monday night, RYSEC provides shelter and food for six “houseless” men. Grace explained that “most have jobs but are divorced and trying to pay child support and/ or other bills. They go through a screening process so there are no addicts, and not just anyone can walk in.”

Last Monday a group of MC students and I volunteered at the shelter and interacted with the men. We set up cots, helped make their meal, set the table, and really enjoyed their company. Before their arrival, we were all nervous as to what they would be like, but when they finally arrived, the atmosphere was cheerful and lively.

They told us of their pasts and how they came to find RYSEC. Around the table were men of all different ages, races, shapes, and sizes. Sitting at a table with ex-addicts, a surfer, a Boston University graduate, and many more personalities who all shared a common living situation and different life experiences made way for great conversation.

While packing up some food for his “wifey,” who was staying in another shelter for the night, a young man named Mel expressed his joy for the Riverdale Society and the wonderful meal he was enjoying. In a side conversation, he told me, “this place is beautiful! The place we usually stay, we have to sleep on chairs...”

Despite the fact that the society only offers shelter and a good, warm meal for six men on Monday nights, their involvement in The Interfaith Food and Hunger Project allows for canned and packaged non-perishable food donations seven days a week.

Cobbina explains how through this program, “all churches and temples [along with individual volunteers] in Riverdale collect food and send it to the Church of the Mediator,” located on 231 and Broadway.

The project, another non-profit organization is sponsored by religious and community institutions. It is “staffed entirely by volunteers and relies totally on food and cash contributions.”

They look for volunteers to “help collect, pack and redistribute the bagged food; to pack 100 grocery bags one day a month at the Y; to contribute food, cash or in-kind support; to help with fund-raising activities; and to sponsor a food drive.”

In such close proximity to influential societal programs, it is nearly effortless to lend a helping hand, yet Cobbina solemnly mentions “we always try to get MC students to come, but no one ever seems interested.”

In an effort to find out why so many students participate in volunteer programs far from home, yet rarely make an effort in their own neighborhoods, I interviewed sophomore Devon Bernaiche. 

In 2010, Devon participated in LOVE New Mexico. I asked her why she chose to help others so far away when she could help people here, and she told me “I went to New Mexico because I wanted to help out and really have a life changing experience. I haven’t found the time to help out here, and I don’t know where to go.”

This response is not an uncommon one. After speaking with many students on campus about my experience at RYSEC, most explained that they did not know it even existed... Let’s hope we can change that. 

A few hours of volunteer work will not only look good on your resumé, but can change your current life-view, humble you, and brighten a person’s day.

For more information, visit http://rysec.org/ or call 1(718)-548-4445.