The Michael O. Leavitt Center for Politics and Public Service held an event on Thursday, Feb. 15, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., inviting Southern Utah University students to build kits for homeless individuals.
Students started by decorating brown paper bags with markers, colored pencils and crayons. Then, they filled their decorated bags with supplies like hand warmers, dental hygiene products, socks and snacks.
The Leavitt Center is known across campus for their student events associated with politics, but the public service sector of their initiative is just as important. They teamed up with the SUU Rotaract Club, a community service club for students that is affiliated with Cedar City’s Rotary Club, for this event.
Sebastian Zungia, a member of the Leavitt Center’s executive council, planned this week’s activity.
“Back home in Nevada where I come from, there’s a lot of homelessness,” Zubgia said. “It’s not as bad in Utah, but I still notice a notable presence here in Cedar City, and I decided to take an initiative to assist the homelessness here.”
Zungia mentioned that he wasn’t optimistic about a lot of students showing up to this event, but throughout the evening, students kept piling into the Leavitt Center to help build kits. It didn’t take long for the Leavitt Center to run out of supplies.
Even after the items for each kit ran out, students continued to decorate bags for the Leavitt Center to fill once they get more supplies.
“I am actually just blown away by the amount of support and thankful for that,” Zungia added.
Once students were finished building kits, the Leavitt Center’s student director, Danielle Tebbs, provided a quick presentation about the issue of homelessness.
In that presentation, Tebbs showed the increasing trend of people without access to homes or shelter in the past few years, both nationwide and in the state of Utah. She also shared a list of local resources available for people in those situations.
Resources on campus include free groceries from the HOPE Pantry, as well as a variety of support from the Health & Wellness Center. International students can reach out to the International Students & Scholar Services for assistance as they transition to living in a new country.
Resources in the wider community of Cedar City include Catholic Community Services, which provides food for those in need daily, and the Gail Miller Resource Center, which offers necessities and emergency shelter.
The Leavitt Center holds many service opportunities for students to participate in throughout the semester. More information on upcoming events can be found on their Instagram and website.
Author: Heather Turner
Photos: Lukas Hassell
Editor: Nick Stein
life@suunews.net
