Students with Volunteer LSU made hundreds of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in assembly lines that will help feed about 450 Baton Rouge residents in need through the “Bags of Hope” program.
As the University students made and packaged the sandwiches on March 3, other volunteers from the community helped assemble bags with snacks and drinks to create a full meal to give out to those in need.
Psychology freshman William Martin led the event for Volunteer LSU. He had participated in the St. Vincent de Paul non-profit organization’s “Bags of Hope” in the past, and wanted to get other University students involved.
“I think that a lot of people don’t realize the problems in the community, specifically the massive homeless population,” Martin said. “This is a good way to introduce [students] to that and open their eyes to see that there are problems in the community that we can help to fix.”
The St. Vincent de Paul Dining Room serves lunch to more than 450 people in the Baton Rouge community every day.
The “Bags of Hope” are distributed to each person who is in need of another meal for the day. A different mix of volunteers help assemble these bags every Monday, Thursday and Saturday.
St. Vincent de Paul Volunteer Coordinator Desha Martin spoke on the importance of the program.
“If it were not for this, folks wouldn’t have a supper,” Desha said. “And these are not necessarily people that are homeless. These might be working poor people. [It might be] a life crisis like a divorce, a woman fleeing a domestic situation with her children, or the loss of a job. It’s a blessing that we’re able to do this.”
Albertsons, Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods Market and various bakeries around Baton Rouge are consistent donors to the St. Vincent de Paul organization and are essential to making the organization’s work possible. Along with the “Bags of Hope,” a variety of food is set up on tables to be offered to those in need including pasta, pies, and packaged meals.
The University volunteers who participated in the event included biology junior Amanda Vivianle, who was happy to represent LSU through service.
“Taking a couple hours out of your day is not hard,” Vivianle said. “What makes the community work is that you need other volunteers to come together to help each other out.”
The other major group of volunteers at the event were representing The Dow Chemical Company. Environmental analytical technologist Gregory Stowers had been volunteering as a kitchen helper in the St. Vincent de Paul Dining Room and recognized their need for help with the “Bags of Hope” program.
He decided to gather some of his co-workers to help put the bags together along with Volunteer LSU. Stowers believes service is one of the best ways to learn to accept your own life for what it is.
“[Sometimes] you might say ‘I can’t get this today, I can’t get a new car,’” Stowers said. “Well, you come out here and serve this person, and he doesn’t even have a car. He doesn’t even have shoes. So, it puts you in a different mindset. When you see what people don’t have, it gives you an appreciation for what you do have.”

Gallery • 21 Photos

Isabella Allen

Volunteers assemble brown bag meals to be distributed to those in need on Saturday, March 3, 2018, at The Society of St. Vincent de Paul Baton Rouge at 220 St. Vincent De Paul Drive.