SCRANTON — A University club in development formed a partnership with a local charity to plan an event around student volunteers serving, socializing and supporting the underprivileged community in Scranton on April 6.

J.M.A. (The Justice and Mercy Alliance) is a club in development at The University of Scranton whose primary goal is to provide student volunteers a true Jesuit education by serving their local community. J.M.A. and St. Francis of Assisi Kitchen came together to create an event called “Feast on the Streets,” an event where student volunteers served hot meals and socialized with the underprivileged community in Scranton.

Sophomore student Sam Peters, one of the co-founders of J.M.A., had a key role in connecting with St. Francis of Assisi Kitchen to make this event be successful and meaningful to both the unhoused and student communities.

“Really the biggest steps we’ve taken has been our partnership with the St. Francis of Assisi soup kitchen. Rob, he is the director, and he has been super generous to us. Letting us set up in the parking lot but then letting us use his chairs, his tables, he brought out all sorts of silverware, he took the trailer out to kind of make this event more attractive for the unhoused population. Really that connection between students at the U and then St. Francis have been super important,” Peters said.

Feast on the Streets allowed student volunteers to meet and interact with the unhoused community and perform service work. Peters said that this service event was different than other service events coordinated with other clubs in the University because student volunteers were not inside a kitchen preparing food to give it to someone who delivered it to the unhoused population. Instead, Feast on the Streets was an event where students were no longer behind a wall and could socialize and bond with the unhoused community.

Students and individuals who attended sat and ate together, threw the football around, played cards and visited the St. Francis free clothing store. Activities and events like this give students and unhoused individuals a chance to bond and form a connection, which may have never happened before. It gave student volunteers the opportunity to reflect upon themselves and hear the stories and strong words of the unhoused community, which heavily impacted both sides.

“I think within our student body it’s almost given them this sense of responsibility. We kind of put the ball in their court saying like look this meal is up to you guys, like it is what you make of it. We want them to kind of like explore this community and explore these people. It’s not just a service event, it’s a social event. This isn’t just us handing out food, this is us spending time and talking with them and getting to know them and becoming friends with them and I think that’s powerful on both sides,” Peters said.

Dennis Naughton, who attended the event, said that he heard about Feast on the Streets when he saw a poster hanging outside of St. Francis of Assisi Kitchen and was looking forward to attending. The Detroit, Michigan native said he met a lot of great people that he may have never met if it weren’t for this event.

“It was pretty cool. I never really hung out with college people before, so it was definitely a new experience for me. It’s pretty cool to see the college kids come outand interact with the community, I thought it was great,” Naughton said.

Stay tuned for upcoming events like this curated by J.M.A., where Peters said student volunteers and the local community come together to form shared values of solidarity, fighting complacency and looking at the spiritual and corporal works of mercy to serve the people externally by serving them food and internally by forming a meaningful connection.