As a way to assist families over Thanksgiving break Nov. 27-Dec. 1, Birdfeeder co-manager junior Ayan Hassan said the club will shop for items to pack meals for students in need. 

“This Thanksgiving we are giving out meals to students who want food to take home for their families,” Hassan said. “We are planning on going shopping and then hopefully getting some requests and giving out the food.”  

According to Birdfeeder adviser Sophia Ross, this year the club chose to buy meals for families instead of having people donate food. 

“This year we are actually just going to go out to purchase meals at the store and have them ready for the people who requested the meals for Thanksgiving. Those meals they can pick up (Nov. 25-26) in the student services office,” Ross said. 

Co-manager senior Shavontae Lester said the fact that the club is giving meals to families is beneficial to those in need of food.

“(We are helping out) because Thanksgiving is a holiday and some people can’t afford it sometimes, so we are giving back to help the community,” Lester said.

Ross said the Birdfeeder strives to provide their services to support families and help them enjoy the holiday. 

“Our goal is to get the food to people that need it and want it. We are hoping to at least serve five people so they can enjoy the togetherness of family and friends over food, which is traditionally celebrated,” Ross said. “It’s a good feeling, so we really hope to help people feed their (families) and have a good time for the season.”

Hassan said due to the significant meaning of Thanksgiving, the Birdfeeder wants to allow students to have a pleasant time and not have to stress about meals.

“We know that Thanksgiving is a really special time to a lot people and (we) want to make that more enjoyable so students who might not be able to get all the food for Thanksgiving and we want to make sure that they have the same Thanksgiving experience as everyone else,” Hassan said.  

Ross said she puts effort in learning about where problems derive from and seeks ways on how to tackle those to further better society.

“Anytime you are servicing someone or giving things to people you always want to try to solve the root cause of the issue. I always think about that,” Ross said. “It’s great that we are giving and feeding and helping people out but (I always think) ‘what can we be doing as a society to improve those conditions?’” 

Meals for students who have requested them can stop by the student services office to pick up their meals Nov. 25-26.