Augsburg University students bring food, supplies to homeless encampment

MINNEAPOLIS (KMSP) - Students from Augsburg University spent their Saturday helping those living in a homeless encampment near the Minneapolis campus. 

The students, including many members of the men’s soccer team, cooked a hot lunch and served it to hungry families at the camp. They also handed out jackets, blankets and children’s toys. 

“It’s basically in our backyard for school and I think that helping the community is a really big thing for me,” Tyler Johnson, one of the students, said. 

The idea to encourage Augsburg students to help out at the encampment was started by Inam Al-Hammouri. Others heard about it and soon hundreds of supplies and food items had been purchased. 

“I’m glad to see all this happen in about 3 weeks—it was stressful but we pulled it off so I’m really glad,” Al-Hammouri said. 

The students believe it is their responsibility to take action and empower their general to build bridges to those less fortunate. 

“When I was packaging and getting everything ready for today I think about them—they need a friend and they need to see exposure to other people so I’m just happy to help them out,” Abdullah Al-Shayba said. 

After Saturday’s success, the students said they hope to organize more days of service, especially with winter on the horizon. 

“I’ve never been down here—I’m very grateful for the situation I’m in so to be able to help out people less privileged and have less opportunity than us is pretty cool,” Daniel Hedstrom said. 

The Camden Lions, a Minneapolis Lions Club, helped coordinate the day of service with the students, providing some of the supplies.