PI KAPPA ALPHA and Other Heroes:

Thanks to the efforts of Ms. Carrie Bennett, JHU's Student-Community Liason, and the Johns Hopkins University's fraternity, Pi Kappa Alpha, we received a delivery yesterday of 30 backpacks of food which will provide a total of 540 meals in the coming spring and summer months.  This is the second such delivery of food made by the young men of Pi Kappa Alpha for the program to feed the homeless children of Charles Village.
The first was made in December last year when they delivered 35 backpacks of food, which expanded our original program.  Not only did Pi Kappa Alpha provide the funding to purchase the food but the fraternity also gathered to package and deliver the backpacks to us for delivery each week to Margaret Brent Elementary and Middle School.

This program started almost a year ago when my wife and I were invited to attend a meeting of the “Peace with Justice” committee of St. John’s United Methodist Church of Baltimore City (27th and St. Paul Sts.).  With the idea of promoting justice at a local level, members of the committee met with the principal of Margaret Brent Elementary and Middle School and learned that a portion of their students were homeless.  While school breakfasts and lunches were providing a vital part of these children's nourishment, such needed food was not available on the weekends.  So a plan was set in motion to provide backpacks filled with non-perishable foods that did not require either refrigeration or cooking to help feed the student and two other family members, perhaps siblings or parents, on weekends.  Contributions from their congregation support the backpacks provided by St. John's UM Church.  We also supply backpacks and now those from Pi Kapa Alpha have expanded this needed program.  Sts. Philips and James Roman Catholic Church on the 2800 block of N. Charles Street and their dedicated Ms. Deedee Clark weekly contribute generously of more food to assist in the program as well.

All of these selfless efforts show how a community can take charge and build positive change within our society at a truly grass-roots level.  Without these heroes, the Congregation and Peace and Justice Committee of St. John's United Methodist Church of Baltimore City, Sts. Philips and James Roman Catholic Church and the Johns Hopkins University's Pi Kappa Alpha many children in Charles Village would face a hungry weekend and the difficulties of beginning the school week less prepared to learn.

And, later this summer in August when summer school lets out and school's feeding program stop, Sts. Philips and James Roman Catholic Church and we will be working with the City to provide breakfast and lunch programs for the school's homeless children.  We are also be continuing the backpack program for the weekends. 

No child should ever go hungry in this country and these heroes are doing their best to be insure that our community's children receive help in growing strong and healthy.