MassPIRG held a sock drive,
during which students purchased socks, mittens, and hats for $1 to
donate to the Louison House, a regional homeless and transitional
shelter. Students also hosted a Hunger Banquet, during which students
and members of the public played roles to experience various levels of
poverty. “The goal is to show that poverty does exist, but there are
ways to change it,” said Melissa Bruhn, the MassPIRG organizer at MCLA.
The College also invited Louison House Director Paul Gadge to speak with
students about poverty.
MCLA students volunteered with
the Berkshire Food Project to prepare a free Thanksgiving dinner for the
North Adams community. Several surrounding restaurants donated food for
the meal. The Zombie Walk for Hunger on Halloween, where students
dressed as zombies and walked around North Adams as part of MassPIRG’s
campaign against Hunger and Homelessness, was the organization’s largest
event during the fall semester.
“The students who came were very
enthusiastic,” said Bruhn. Public Interest Research Groups are
independent statewide student organizations that work on a variety of
issues. MassPIRG volunteers devote much of their time at MCLA to hunger
and homelessness and zero-waste efforts.
