The Black Student Association (BSA) hosted a drive from Jan. 23 to 31 to provide books to Rosie’s Place, a women’s shelter located in Boston. The shelter provides emergency food and shelter for more than 12,000 women every year.
Senior Anthony Berry, Program Chair for BSA, said the drive was the perfect way to kick-start the semester.
“Especially for the African American community… Women are the foundation for really, our community,” Berry said. “And Rosie’s Place is one of the biggest nonprofits in that realm that serves women the most.”
The Association placed boxes around campus including the Science and Technology Center, Dining Hall, Arnow Campus Center, and the Winslow Library, looking for whatever extra books people had to donate. Rosie’s Place organizes educational programs for the women seeking shelter there, and they will be able to utilize and take advantage of the books donated from Lasell’s campus.
“When we formed our e-board, throughout the fall semester our focus was to give back to our community. We thought it best to start volunteer work, or to create awareness to organizations that could really benefit if we worked together. BSA is open to volunteer work and hope we'll have the support from everyone in the Lasell community and greater Boston area,” said BSA President Jalynn Hilton.
Although the students haven’t been able to go there and meet the women face to face, they plan on going to see the impact they’ve made at the end of February, after the BSA Gala event. The association on campus says its goal is to eventually start a dialogue with them. “That is the goal, to actually go there and see them face to face...have that, effective dialogue and say, ‘Hey, there's somebody out here that actually cares about you don't want anybody to really feel forgotten, especially within our organization,” said Berry.
One of the books that was donated was Pay It Forward by Catherine Ryan Hyde. It’s about a 12-year-old boy named Trevor McKinney in California who takes on his social studies teacher’s challenge of changing the world for the better. Trevor comes up with a plan to help three people in benefitting their lives, with the intention that those exact people will go out and do the same for someone else.
In the end, his idea of paying it forward hopes to bring out the best aspects of humanity.
“That's literally what we're trying to establish,” Berry said in regards to the book's donation. “It was a great book [to have donated]... giving back to others is a part of growing as a young adult. Like we want to set good habits and set examples for future generations that are coming here. You know, just giving examples that shine a light to what a positive, young adult looks like,” said Berry.