MBU News
Urban Up Provides Thanksgiving for Homeless, Causes a Stir
November 29, 2007
By Laura Hildebrand
What were MBU students doing to be featured on the Channel 2 and Channel 11 news Friday night?
Students Luke McAnally and Erin McDermott joined forces to boost the spirits of homeless people in downtown St. Louis. Through weeks of planning and collaborating, McAnally and McDermott gathered a group of students to cook and serve dinner in Lucas Park the day after Thanksgiving.
The student-led organization, Urban Up, has traveled downtown on a weekly basis, and the organization has provided dozens of blankets, jackets, toiletries and now a sit-down Thanksgiving dinner.
However, Urban Up has caused quite a stir in the city and has even been threatened with fines.
“Apparently, it’s against the law to feed the homeless because it encourages the unfortunate to ‘loiter’ in the same place…waiting for us,” McAnally said.
Although the threat of fines is evident to McAnally and other students, they are all untroubled by the reality. “Let them fine me; I’ll come right back next week and do the same thing,” McAnally added.
Gathering several pounds of mashed potatoes, stuffing, green beans, corn, gravy and bread rolls, students cooked the food from 8 a.m. until 1 p.m. on Friday at a church in Soulard. Then, they traveled over to Lucas Park by the Scottrade Center with minivans full of food.
“All in all, I think we cooked and sliced about 12 turkeys and had a few pounds worth of ham. It was a lot of food,” said Kayla Ellege, one of the participants in cooking the dinner.
The students set up in the park around 1:30 p.m. with picnic tables, all the food, plus water and coffee. Over the next two hours, countless homeless people received warm meals in celebration of Thanksgiving and were able to share stories with one another.
From the disabled man in a wheelchair with sandals on in 35 degree weather, to the tiny woman whose lips were turning a grayish-blue, all of the students that were a part of the dinner were able to hear the heart-breaking stories of these unfortunate individuals.
In regard to Urban Up being featured on the Channel 2 and Channel 11 news Friday night, McAnally said: “I don’t want this sort of recognition. I’m doing this in God’s will to help these people and let them know they’re not alone.”
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