By Jorge Vazquez
The Adelante With Your Dreams Club aims to assist homeless and impoverished students with its second annual clothing drive.
AWYD is a club for all students, preferably those that are first-generation college students, that provides support and resources needed for transferring to a four-year university or earning an Associate’s Degree.
Donations of clothing, as well as canned food, are accepted to help people in need, both on and off campus.
Donations can be made in the Adelante First Year Experience office located in E7-210.
The clothes donated should be clean and not soiled. Donated food should be sealed and unexpired.
Donated food will not be distributed with the clothes and, instead, will be saved for the ELAC Turkey Drive.
Donations will be distributed for three to four days after the drive has ended outside of E7-210 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
“Any student can take what they need. Only those truly in need, like homeless students, are the most recommended to go,” said Adelante Student Ambassador Lizbeth Ventura.
“At the end of the day, it’s for the students. Don’t be afraid to give and don’t be afraid to take.” she said.
Donations that are left over from the drive will be taken to Skid row for distribution through other charities such as the homeless shelters for men and women. Ventura said that the Women’s Center is among these charities because most of the clothes donated are baby clothes.
For last year’s clothing drive, students and faculty donated alike but it was the theater department that made the largest clothing contribution, says Adelante With Your Dreams Club President Joe Gama.
“During my first year of college, I experienced homelessness, and the lack of resources on campus didn’t help. The homeless student population, I believe, has trouble affording basic needs, so hopefully the drive will help with that,” said Gama in hopes of aiding the student population on campus.
The club accumulated seven bags, approximately 4 to 5 feet in length, during the first clothing drive and has high hopes of surpassing the previous amount said Gama.
Along with the Adelante with Your Dreams Club, the Students for Political Awareness Club and PSI BETA Community College National Honor Society of Psychology are participating in the drive.
The ESPA club’s website says that it gives students a voice in regards to social and political matters as well as provides goals of improving ELAC and the community through helping needy.
PSI BETA promotes professional development and psychological literacy in students at two-year schools through scholarships, leadership, research and community service as stated in the organization’s website.
The drive started Nov. 8 and will continue until Dec. 5.
Adelante Office hours are Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Fridays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Why isn’t there more buzz of this on campus? I would love to give back to my peers in need. I’m pretty sure there are many students that feel the same way.