By Marin Londe, Georgia Tech '24
On Tuesday, October 23rd, Georgia Tech Hillel partnered with Georgia Tech Grace House, a campus ministry, and Georgia Tech AEPi. a Jewish campus fraternity, to put on a sandwich making event benefiting The Sandwich Project. With about 55 volunteers, we collectively made 607 sandwiches!
The Sandwich Project is an Atlanta-based “non-profit organization that supports the efforts of more than a dozen local organizations combatting homelessness and food insecurity.” Food insecurity skyrocketed during the COVID-19 pandemic, creating record need for food assistance. Not only were more people without jobs and stuck at home, but many food pantries and shelters had to shut down for periods of time. The Sandwich Project was created to combat these issues and provide people in need with hearty sandwiches. From April 2020 to October 2021, The Sandwich Project collected and distributed more than 249,000 sandwiches.
Living in the heart of Atlanta, Georgia Tech students see first-hand many people who are homeless or food-insecure, and we wanted to take action. On Tuesday, we made multiple assembly lines to put sandwiches together. Between these assembly lines and everyone working together, we made 607 sandwiches in about an hour and a half! Everyone was very excited to help and contribute to our community.
Later that day, the sandwiches were distributed to Vision of the Minds and a fire station. Vision of the Minds is a mentoring program specializing in youth educational and social advancement, teaching “self-discipline, self-motivation, self-determination, and self-confidence.” It was heartwarming to see how happy the people were to receive the sandwiches.
We as Georgia Tech students are always very excited to help our community, and being able to see the difference we can make is remarkable. As Jewish people, we value helping others, and we strive to make the world a better place. I believe that because of these reasons and our values as Jewish Georgia Tech students, so many people came to participate in the sandwich making event. People were ready to help and make an impact on our community. We are very excited about the number of sandwiches made and are hoping to make more again soon!