This semester, Samford has introduced a new organization to campus called Salt and Light that is designed to help support the homeless in the Birmingham area. They are operating right now as a provisional organization meaning that they are on temporary status for up to two years before achieving full recognition,” according to samford.edu as they establish membership and activities.
This past Thursday, March 19, they had their first meeting in Propst Hall during convocation hour. They also tabled Tuesday, March 24, on Ben Brown.
The leadership team started as a group of friends who realized that there was a great need to support the homeless. They realized that there is much more that college students could be doing to help the homeless community that does not require money, but simply time and energy.
The meaning behind their name references the biblical side of their purpose. They founded the organization on Matthew 5:13-16 and Matthew 25:31-40. These verses call everyone to serve the world and help make it a better place. Their foundation is on the idea that Jesus tells people to love one another and take care of them in the same way you would him.
“I remember sitting with my roommates, who are all now officers of the club, and we were just thinking, ‘We’re just college students. How could we do something impactful?,’” said Zion Jonathan, outreach chair. “It doesn’t really matter how old you are or if you’re just a college student, you can really make an impact.”
Ryan Abadie, the other outreach chair, described the process of putting together the club itself in alignment with Samford’s policies and guidelines.
With a significant amount of work going on behind the scenes, the development of a club is not a fast track.
“It was reaching out to advisors and faculty that were interested in being our advisor and wanting to actually bring Salt and Light to life, as well as going to the outreach organization on campus,” said Abadie.
First Light Shelter and the Jimmie Hale Mission are two of the places that they are planning to work with. They are working at one of Jimmie Hale’s men’s facilities on March 28 for Samford Gives Back. First Light is a shelter for women’s and children that they plan to work with in April.
“We really did want to bring Christ into our action,” said Abadie. “We wanted to actually bring the love of Christ and speak out and say, ‘This is our mission, this is where we’re coming from. This is not just something we’re doing from our own hearts and our own desire. This is coming from a love and a passion for our Lord.’ And we want to reflect that in our actions and in our speech.”
Because of the way that funding works, any of the money that comes from Samford itself can only go towards the students involved and not anything for these facilities. This means that fundraising is vital to Salt and Light in order for them to fund different kinds of work.
This could look like buying supplies for items for emergency kits or using it to buy clothes to donate. Anyone can donate and make a difference, whether a student, a professor or even family like parents and grandparents.
Sign-ups for the club will continue to be open, and chances to donate are always available. The GoFundMe is accessible here.
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