“Until Nov. 17, the homeless people of Akron need your help. Well, to be honest, they could use your help all the time. Until the 17th, however, the Paralegal Student Association is running a canned food drive for the Haven of Rest. The drop-off boxes are located in and around the Polsky Building.”
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Until Nov. 17, the homeless people of Akron need your help.

Well, to be honest, they could use your help all the time. Until the 17th, however, the Paralegal Student Association is running a canned food drive for the Haven of Rest. The drop-off boxes are located in and around the Polsky Building.

Curious as to how it was going, two days after the drive started I went to the Polsky building to see for myself how our student body was responding.

What I found was shocking.

Well, technically it was what I didn’t find – a drop-off box for canned food. I explored the Polsky Building – all the main lobbies and entrances – and didn’t see a single box for canned food.

Hearing of a student organization doing something good for the community is always encouraging. But to learn that they might not be doing what they say they are is pretty confusing.

It was my first time in Polsky, but I was thorough with my search. The Zipmail sent out on Nov. 2 states that boxes for the canned food drive would be positioned throughout the building. While I didn’t see any, I don’t want to jump to any conclusions. Maybe members of the association were dropping the canned foods off at the Haven of Rest, and hadn’t yet returned with the boxes.

After contacting Susan Deeds, the president of the Paralegal Student Association, I learned the truth.

We just put them out now, she said. There’s a box by the third and fourth floor elevators, by the bridge on the fourth floor and one by the copy machines.

According to Deeds, the group planned on beginning the food drive Nov. 7. The Zipmail, which stated that the drive would start Nov. 5, was incorrect.

I was relieved. Who’s to blame for the error is unresolved, and really isn’t important. The important thing is that the Paralegal Student Association is running the drive, after all.

Deeds also informed me that the group plans on doing a toy drive as well. This is the first year the group has held any sort of drive, and they are hoping to generate a lot of donations.

Asked what the motivation was for organizing the canned food drive, Deeds responded that it was to help people in need.

As a college student, it’s easy to feel like I’m the one in need – the poor college student. I’m taking out loans, working for a student newspaper and living off – campus. Groceries aren’t cheap, and I don’t think I’m eligible for food stamps.

Hearing about a group of students who are seeking to help those who are truly in need is refreshing, and it’s a reminder that I’m not as needy as I would like to think.

The staff at the Haven of Rest and the students helping them remains an encouragement. Their work will certainly have an impact; the Haven is the biggest homeless shelter in Akron and couldn’t survive without donations.

That being said, the hardest part about donating is probably going to be walking all the way to the Polsky Building to drop off the food.

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