NSU’s Shepard Broad Law Center’s Student Bar Association hosted its annual Family and Friends Day on Sept. 24 and 25, to give family members and friends insight into the law school experience. However, the event’s purpose became two-fold when the SBA donated extra food from the event to a local homeless group.
The law school’s student organizations provided food and assisted the SBA in facilitating the event. Students also participated in a food competition. At the end of the event, Hope Baros, a second–year law student, donated the extra food to the Homeless Voice, a homeless organization with four facilities in Broward County.
Eric Arckey, third–year law student and president of the SBA, said students recognized that the displaced community is not only in need of monetary donations or time, but food as well.
“Due to the current climate, the shelters are so depleted that already-made food helps alleviate the strain,” he said. “This resonates with the student body and creates a deeper understanding of how they can help and how little things can make a huge difference.”
The opportunity gave students a first–hand look at the community’s needs.
Baros said, “Getting students directly involved by giving the pre-made food to the shelter, [highlights] the fact that so many people need this food; it becomes more of a reality rather than something we hear about abstractly on a day to day basis.”
The SBA hopes the thoughtful gesture will spur more philanthropic acts within the law school.
“We are attempting to instill a desire for community outreach programs that are not just limited to legal fields,” Arckey said. “While lawyers are frequently required to commit to donating free legal services, the legal community should see that many other services and donations are needed in these tough times.”
The Homeless Voice staff was thankful for the donation. Representatives said they didn’t know if there was going to be a dinner that night because there was not enough food to make a meal.
For information about The Homeless Voice, call (954) 924-3571 or go to homelessvoice.org. To learn more about Family and Friends Day or other events the Student Bar Association hosts, contact Arckeye@nsu.law.nova.edu.
