“It really shows the dedication of our students, their sensitivity and their roles and responsibility to the needs of our community,” said Dawn Lindsay, interim superintendent/president for the college. “The credit is due to the staff and students because the administration had nothing to do with this other than to support them at the event.”
Estimates on the number of homeless schoolchildren are difficult to produce, officials said, but in 2005, School on Wheels estimated there were 200 homeless schoolchildren in the Glendale Unified School District.
Anecdotally, Locante said he has seen long waiting lists and full shelters all over Los Angeles County.
“It is never a good time to be homeless, but it is really not a good time to be homeless now,” he said.
The school supply drive lasted the first two weeks of the semester, a notoriously chaotic time on any campus, and some student organizers expressed disappointment they did not reach their goal of 100 backpacks.
“We collected a good amount of supplies, but I think the next time we do it, we could get more,” said Innesa Ranchpar, a second-year student who was one of five student organizers. “A lot of students, if they are active in clubs or in the school, they go full out. But if they’re not, they don’t pay attention at all and won’t even take a flier.”
But Locante said he was pleased.
“They exceeded my expectations,” he said.
The campaign was a campus-wide effort. Faculty members gave extra credit to participating students, and student organizers sold bagels and raised $300 to buy supplies. Student organizers selected School on Wheels because of its existing relationships with local children in need.
