As we look back at this year’s Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week, we’re taking a moment to highlight the challenges our neighbors are facing—and the ways our communities continue to show up. This year brings added urgency as cuts to food assistance programs are increasing strain on families already struggling to make ends meet. While policy decisions may shift, the need for compassion, stability, and access to basic necessities remains constant. Addressing hunger and homelessness is a nonpartisan commitment to human dignity, and together we can continue building solutions that ensure everyone has the resources they need to thrive.
Across the country, hundreds of schools, student groups, community organizations, charities, and businesses participated in food and winter clothing drives, resource fairs, advocacy days, and so much more.
For decades, the Student PIRGs National Student Campaign Against Hunger & Homelessness has co-sponsored Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week with our partners at the National Coalition for the Homeless. Read on for some highlights from the week.
CALPIRG at UC San Diego | San Diego, CA
The UC San Diego chapter of CALPIRG Students, led by 2nd year student coordinator Xavier Fernando, organized a food drive that collected 1,409 food and hygiene items. Students collected the donations at four different student markets across campus in just five hours! Half of the items were donated to the Triton Food Pantry on campus, with the other half going to Feeding San Diego, a non-profit that distributes food to San Diego community members in need.
CALPIRG at UC Berkeley | Berkeley, CA
The UC Berkeley CALPIRG Chapter raised over $700 and donated 342 food and hygiene items to two organizations they have been volunteering at throughout the semester: Dorothy Day House and Berkeley Food Pantry. This was done via food drives, bake sales, and other fundraising work over the course of a number of days. Fifteen students volunteered to support the efforts over the course of the week.
Laguna Beach United Methodist Church | Laguna Beach, CA
The Laguna Beach United Methodist Church partnered with Laguna Beach Net-Works Church, the City of Laguna Beach, Laguna Beach Interfaith Council, and the Ability Awareness Project for a beach clean up event supporting H&H Week. They met at Main Beach and shared coffee and donuts before heading out to clean up the beach, working alongside their unhoused and impoverished neighbors. At the end of the cleanup, participants received a $20 gift card to a local grocery store. They also distributed ten warm hats and a dozen toiletry kits. Seventy five people participated!
SJSU Cares at San José State University | San Jose, CA
SJSU Cares hosted a series of events supporting students’ basic needs. They held a Resource Fair which brought together 10 social service organizations and connected 207 students to food, housing, and public benefit resources. Students also built essential-needs bags with items like emergency blankets, socks, and toiletries. Later in the week, they held drop-in hours offering CalFresh Food application assistance, pantry sign-ups, housing search support, and free meals at the dining commons. A multi-week donation drive collected food, toiletries, and cleaning supplies for the campus pantry. And throughout the week, a social media campaign highlighted volunteer opportunities and shared information before and after the Resource Fair.
Volunteer Center and Community Service Learning at University of Redlands | Redlands, CA
The Volunteer Center and Community Service Learning at University of Redlands in California held a food drive and fundraiser for H&H Week. They collected over $5,000 for Thanksgiving Baskets for the Micah House and the Food Pantry collectively through donors and organizations on campus.
KJV Disaster Relief | London, KY
KJV Disaster Relief in Kentucky participated in H&H Week for the first time this year, after hearing about it from a local food bank. They gave out 60 Thanksgiving Meal baskets and delivered over 150 lunches to the homeless. They are also holding a toy drive to support kids in need in their community.
The Privateer Pantry at The University of New Orleans | New Orleans, LA
The Privateer Pantry at The University of New Orleans hosted several H&H Week events. Their Food & Personal Care Items Drive in the UC Atrium collected donations, and highlighted year-round basic-needs support. They also partnered with the UNO Ceramics Club for Empty Bowls, where guests selected handmade bowls and enjoyed dinner, with proceeds benefiting both the Privateer Pantry and the Ceramics Club. Reginelli’s Pizzeria further supported the effort by donating 10% of orders during a Giveback Event. In total, more than 100 people participated, and outreach was boosted by campus-wide emails from the UNO President and AVP for Student Affairs, as well as coverage in the weekly campus newsletter.
MASSPIRG Students at UMass Amherst | Amherst, MA
The UMass Amherst chapter of MASSPIRG Students held 5 events for H&H Week: they partnered with Challah for Hunger to braid bread to donate to the Amherst Survival Center, they held a canned food drive with the local chapter of Girl UP, a global nonprofit focused on uplifting young girls, they held a bake sale to raise funds for a local soup kitchen, they organized an Open Mic Night with proceeds supporting students displaced by an off-campus apartment fire, and held a food drive outside Walmart that collected 550 pounds of non-perishable food for Amherst Survival Center
MASSPIRG at UMass Dartmouth | Dartmouth, MA
The MASSPIRG chapter at UMass Dartmouth held a number of events for H&H Week including partnering with the nonprofit Lasagna Love to make and deliver a hot meal for a family in need. The chapter also joined a Food and Clothing Drive put together by Indivisible SouthCoast New England where they helped collect, sort, and deliver over 300 pieces of clothing and 200 pounds of food to food pantries and homeless shelters in the Fairhaven, MA area!
MICAH | St. Paul, MN
The Metropolitan Interfaith Council on Affordable Housing (MICAH) has been involved with H&H Week for over 35 years. This year, MICAH held six Housing and Resource Regional Community Meetings, presented at the MN and National Coalitions For Homeless Conference,and held three community events with people that have experienced homelessness. Over 2000 people participated in their events!
Organization of Student Social Workers at Missouri Western State University | Saint Joseph, MO
The Organization of Student Social Workers at Missouri Western State University held the 15th annual Walk for the Homeless to raise awareness and support for unhoused individuals in the St. Joseph community. Along the route, participants spoke to social service agencies and picked up trash. The local prison donated hats, blankets, and scarves, and a local dry cleaners donated around 25 blankets and quilts. Organizers also collected non-perishable items to donate to the university’s campus cupboard. 125 people participated in the event – and the event was covered by the local ABC News affiliate KQ2!
Community Resource Hub & Food Pantry at Middlesex College | Edison, NJ
The Organization of Student Social Workers at Missouri Western State University held the 15th annual Walk for the Homeless to raise awareness and support for unhoused individuals in the St. Joseph community. Along the route, participants spoke to social service agencies and picked up trash. The local prison donated hats, blankets, and scarves, and a local dry cleaners donated around 25 blankets and quilts. Organizers also collected non-perishable items to donate to the university’s campus cupboard. 125 people participated in the event – and the event was covered by the local ABC News affiliate KQ2!
Homelessness Action Project at Cornell | Ithaca, NY
The Homelessness Action Project at Cornell University participated in H&H Week for the second time this year and held a “Kindness Kits” packing event where 35 volunteers packed nonperishable food and hygiene kits to donate to unhoused community members in Ithaca. The kits were delivered to Serenity House and the Code Blue Shelter. The event was hosted in collaboration with the Cornell Hunger Relief Program.
ServeAkron at University of Akron | Akron, OH
ServAkron hosted a wide range of service and awareness events, including Drop-In Service projects, Campus Cupboard open hours, food distribution efforts, and a Salvation Army partnership. They also offered a faculty-staff “Paint With a Purpose” class and student-focused activities such as ZAB’s Thankful for Art and the SWAG Kickback. The week wrapped up with a Student Organization Kettle Bell Ringing Competition at Acme Fresh Market. Around 200 people participated!
Concho Valley Community Action Agency | San Angelo, TX
The Concho Valley Community Action Agency held three events for H&H Week, involving over 250 members of the community. They held a Homeless Vigil to honor those who passed in the last year, they held a Homeless Navigation Day where 20 service agencies came together to offer point of contact services for over 150 individuals, and they held their 3rd annual Homeless Symposium, a community wide dialogue around homelessness.
The Coffee Oasis | Bremerton, WA
The Coffee Oasis is a Christian nonprofit coffee shop and youth organization. This year, they launched an online awareness campaign where they encouraged their volunteers, donors, and supporters to learn and share localized statistics from their county health department and from their internal organization data. They continued the awareness campaign into Thanksgiving week by launching a 3-part podcast series with blog posts. Since 1997, The Coffee Oasis has offered youth ages 13-25 shelter, resources, and job training.
Eastern Washington University’s Counseling and Wellness Services | Cheney, WA
Counseling and Wellness Services staff at Eastern Washington University held a Soup Night in Residence Halls using pantry ingredients where they provided free food and a cooking demo to over 30 students. They also held a holiday meal packing event where they assembled 140 meet kits with the help of 25 volunteers. And finally, they held their 2nd annual inter-college food drive competition which brought in 949 pounds of donations.
If you or your organization participated in Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week, THANK YOU! If you’re inspired to get involved in next year’s week of action, please visit our website at hhweek.org.
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About The National Student Campaign Against Hunger and Homelessness
The National Student Campaign Against Hunger and Homelessness (NSCAHH) is committed to ending hunger and homelessness by educating, engaging, and training college students to directly meet individuals’ immediate needs while advocating for long-term systemic solutions.
NSCAHH has engaged tens of thousands of students, developed long-term projects such as food salvage programs and food pantries, raised millions of dollars for anti-poverty charities, and equipped young people with the skills to become effective organizers and advocates. NSCAHH is a project of the Student PIRGs.
About The Student PIRGs
Students have the power to shape the future we will inherit. The Student PIRGs work with professional staff at colleges and universities to make sure our peers have the skills, opportunities and training they need to create a better, more sustainable future for all of us. Our chapters and clubs on nearly 100 campuses in 25 states provide the training, professional support and resources students need to tackle climate change, protect public health, revitalize our democracy, feed the hungry and more. For over 50 years we’ve helped students to get organized, mobilized and energized so they can continue to be on the cutting edge of positive change.