Stuffing community into Thanksgiving

Instead of heading home for the holidays, some students will volunteer around Philadelphia. While most University students will be at home savoring their family's Thanksgiving dinners, Wharton freshman Lauren Cohen and his crew will be in Philadelphia filling Turkey Day with various community service events. Cohen organized the volunteer event to give those not leaving campus a chance to contribute to the community -- and at the same time earn themselves a Thanksgiving feast. Volunteers can start their Thursday at West Philadelphia's Albert Einstein Medical Center. And in the afternoon, students can serve Thanksgiving dinners to those less fortunate at the soup kitchen at Saint Mary's Church on 39th Street and Locust Walk will begin. After a long day of work, volunteers will be invited back to Hill College House to enjoy a reward of their own -- a traditional Thanksgiving dinner provided by Boston Market. "I am impressed that [Cohen] thought the whole idea through," said Hill Graduate Advisor Jean Tak, who added that it would be "great to turn the event into an annual thing." With so many students heading home for Thanksgiving, only a few have responded to an e-mail message sent to all Hill residents. But Cohen is not discouraged. "No matter if we have 10 or 50 people -- if there are people who want to do it, then the project is going to be successful," he said, adding that although he is optimistic, he was nevertheless hesitant to label this the "first annual" Stuffed Turkey Day. "I know that many people will not be around for Thanksgiving," Cohen admitted, prepared to see fewer volunteers than he had originally hoped for. He added that students can participate in any part of the day if they don't want to devote their entire Thanksgiving to the event. Drawing on his family's experiences volunteering Christmas day at a hospital near his Athens, Pa., home, Cohen knows the value of service on major holidays. Referring to the shifts at Einstein, Cohen said, "We're doing it so that the nurses and other staff will be able to get home quicker to their families." Cohen was also hesitant to associate the event with Thanksgiving Day, fearing that those who don't celebrate the holiday -- namely international students -- would be "turned off" by the project's name. "It doesn't matter if you celebrate Thanksgiving or not," he said. "That's not what the event is about -- it's about helping other people." College freshman Nilova Saha, a Hill resident who responded to the e-mail, recounted her own decision to help on Thanksgiving Day. "I live in a Houston suburb, and it's hard to do community service oriented work there," said Saha, adding that her own plans to go home "fell through." "I'm going to have to get up early, but I don't mind," she said.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.