The problem that we are addressing is the Mexican American border crisis. Thousands of South Americans cross the border every day, leaving whole communities of people displaced in a country that is completely foreign to them. The majority of these immigrants do not have the resources available to make a living in the US and provide for themselves and their families. However, centers such as the HANDS community shelter in the Bronx are devoted to helping these families, and we wanted to do our part in supporting such centers.
The HANDS Community Center is an organization run through the St. Jerome’s Church of Bronx, New York which specializes in the support of Hispanic immigrants who have crossed the border. They provide help through specialized classes, food drives, and housing. With this grant, we would be providing the HANDS Community Center the resources necessary to host a large-scale fundraiser and celebration for their 15 year anniversary.
The goal of this project is to raise funding for the HANDS Community Center so that they can further their efforts in helping immigrants assimilate into the United States.
So far, we have met with the nuns who run the HANDS Community Center and have planned the event for July 20th. On this day, Juan and I will help the St. Jerome’s Church host the 15th anniversary of the HANDS Community Center by setting up and running the event as well as using the grant money to pay for all of the food. We will also be creating a GoFundMe that will go along with the advertisement of the event to raise donations for the center.
-Jasper ’25 and Juan ’25
