Spring Break
A different kind of trick or treat
A long, sweet history of helping the hungry
by Shana D. Lebowitz
Features Editor
Features | 11/6/07
Posted online at 2:25 AM EST on 11/6/07
/ Last updated at 7:40 PM EST on 11/6/07
To the avid trick-or-treater, a shopping bag overflowing with canned minestrone soup and Hannaford cranberry sauce would be the last image that comes to mind as mouth-watering products of a triumphant Halloween.
But to the more than 150 volunteers for Halloween for the Hungry-an annual program coordinated by the Hunger and Homelessness branch of the Waltham Group-the sea of brown bags filled with donated packaged goods in the Shapiro Atrium last Wednesday night marked the most successful Halloween for the Hungry event in several years.
Brandeis' participation in the event marked approximately its 20th year, as student volunteers paraded the streets of Waltham dressed as princesses, zombies and cartoon characters in a door-to-door quest for donations of packaged goods.
Volunteers collected over 4,000 cans, significantly more than last year's 3,000, according to Diane Hannan, director of Brandeis' Department of Community Service. Waltham Group donated the cans to Bristol Lodge, a soup kitchen in Waltham.
"Without our help, some of the people would go hungry," Myka Held '09, co-coordinator of Halloween for the Hungry, said.
Halloween for the Hungry became an official Waltham Group event in 1991, when a group of Brandeis students' charitable Halloween tradition became an annual campus-wide event, Hannan said. The students had collected packaged goods on Halloween for a number of years before Halloween for the Hungry became an official program.
The Waltham Group has been donating the food it collects to Bristol Lodge for the past 10 years; before that, donations went to the Red Cross Food Pantry, according to Hannan.
"We couldn't do the work that we're doing without all the volunteers and donations that we receive," said Dick Rogers, program director for Bristol Lodge. The Waltham Group, one of several organizations in Waltham that sends volunteers to Bristol Lodge, has become increasingly involved in the program as the number of people in Waltham who are in need has increased dramatically, Rogers said.
But to the more than 150 volunteers for Halloween for the Hungry-an annual program coordinated by the Hunger and Homelessness branch of the Waltham Group-the sea of brown bags filled with donated packaged goods in the Shapiro Atrium last Wednesday night marked the most successful Halloween for the Hungry event in several years.
Brandeis' participation in the event marked approximately its 20th year, as student volunteers paraded the streets of Waltham dressed as princesses, zombies and cartoon characters in a door-to-door quest for donations of packaged goods.
Volunteers collected over 4,000 cans, significantly more than last year's 3,000, according to Diane Hannan, director of Brandeis' Department of Community Service. Waltham Group donated the cans to Bristol Lodge, a soup kitchen in Waltham.
"Without our help, some of the people would go hungry," Myka Held '09, co-coordinator of Halloween for the Hungry, said.
Halloween for the Hungry became an official Waltham Group event in 1991, when a group of Brandeis students' charitable Halloween tradition became an annual campus-wide event, Hannan said. The students had collected packaged goods on Halloween for a number of years before Halloween for the Hungry became an official program.
The Waltham Group has been donating the food it collects to Bristol Lodge for the past 10 years; before that, donations went to the Red Cross Food Pantry, according to Hannan.
"We couldn't do the work that we're doing without all the volunteers and donations that we receive," said Dick Rogers, program director for Bristol Lodge. The Waltham Group, one of several organizations in Waltham that sends volunteers to Bristol Lodge, has become increasingly involved in the program as the number of people in Waltham who are in need has increased dramatically, Rogers said.
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