Amid tightening regulations and strict shelter-in-place orders, many Northwestern students have further opened their hearts to help their communities at home.

While remote learning has sent many students back to their hometowns, some have gotten involved with organizations and relief efforts in their local communities.

Weinberg freshman Tamara Bendeck became an ambassador for Operación Frijol, a project focused on raising money to deliver food for families in need. The project enabled her to help bring baskets of beans, rice, flour and coffee to impoverished families in her home country of Honduras.

After surpassing their initial goal of one million HND (equivalent to over $40,000) last week, Bendeck said they are not done yet. She said she hopes to continue spreading the word and informing others of how hardships in Honduras have been exacerbated by COVID-19.

“People are really dying from hunger and it’s gotten to the point where they’re stopping cars in the street and if you don’t give them food, they’ll throw rocks at you,” she said. “It’s gotten to that point of desperation.”

NU’s Kappa Delta Chapter changed their typical spring beneficiary to the Chicago Public Schools Compassion Fund, which supports students who depend on CPS for food and other resources.

Weinberg sophomore Cady De Camara, the sorority’s vice president of community service, said she asked all chapter members to complete surveys on PurPics to raise money. She said she felt that allowing members to donate their time over other resources would be best, in consideration of chapter members’ varying circumstances.

Apart from fundraising, De Camara said she hopes these efforts help people become more aware of pressing issues facing their communities.

“I think that’s really just my ultimate goal was asking people, how can we utilize our resources and our skills to continue to raise awareness and to push for some changes that are obviously going to need to be made following this global pandemic?” De Camara said.

Communication freshman Arella Flur said she saw this time as an opportunity to help the arts community. She became involved in MusicGrams, an online campaign that allows people to send free music video requests to others. The hope, she said, is that customers make a donation to the Musicians Foundation CV19 Emergency Relief Aid Grant Program, which supports all the professional musicians who are currently out of work.

Teaming up with a friend, Flur said the two recruited high school and college-aged volunteer musicians from various musical backgrounds to easily pair musicians with incoming requests.

The project has fulfilled over 30 requests, with more coming in each day, and hopes to reach their goal of $10,000 raised for the Foundation, Flur said. She added that they plan to keep the project going as long as stay-at-home orders are in place.

“I wish people would understand how much they can really make someone’s day by sending these little short videos that may not seem like a ton, but in these times, really all we can do is have these little moments of laughter and joy,” Flur said.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @julia_karten

Related Stories: 

—Evanston shops feed residents, provide household supplies