BY TUCKER REILLY, MANAGING EDITOR
Last Sunday, BonaResponds held an event called “Food Packing Day,” where students made small bags of food for migrants at the US’s southern border and listened to speakers experienced on the topic.
Founded in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, BonaResponds is a service organization that helps with major crises, as well as addressing local issues. Dr. James Mahar, an associate professor of finance at the university and the coordinator of BonaResponds, described the motivation behind the first Food Packing Day event.
“We [BonaResponds] were in the Bahamas in December of 2019 when I got a call from someone saying that Br. Joe Kotula was working at the border,” said Mahar. “I said, ‘How can we help?’ and he recommended food bags because that was the biggest issue. We held an event in January 2020 and it really just showed the need for something like this.”
Valentina Cossio, a junior business major, was the student leader for Food Packing Day. After participating in the first event in 2020, Cossio described the dramatic effect of hearing stories from the border firsthand.
“That was the second BonaResponds event that I did and I loved it,” said Cossio. “I had heard stories from the border, gone to talks and thought I knew a good deal about it – there’s really nothing that can replace hearing from those who actually do it, though.”
BonaResponds has joined with several local individuals and groups associated with the southern border. Fr. David Buer OFM has given several video lectures at Bonaventure about his experiences working at immigration centers in Arizona. The St. Elizabeth Motherhouse in Allegany, New York has sponsored groups of staff members for three-week shifts at the border, as well as sending speakers on the topic to Bonaventure’s Francis Week. Mahar described another featured speaker, telling the story of a local undocumented immigrant escaping gang violence in their home country.
“These people have been on such a long and hard journey through terrible conditions – but now they are detained and waiting for release,” said Cossio. “Our mission is to alleviate their struggles and offer at least the bare necessities for a human being.”
BonaResponds nearly doubled their goal of 300 bags for the event, packing over 500 individual containers with food and personalized messages. Still, turnout was light and Cossio described her desire for more student and community involvement.
“Our biggest challenge, I think, was getting donations to buy food this year,” said Cossio. “Most of the donations were actually from BonaResponds, less from the community and students. As an RA myself, I made [donations] a floor program but unfortunately those weren’t really there. We did get a lot of donations from the friars at Mt. Irenaus and some other members of the community, which helped a lot.”
BonaResponds is planning on holding a similar event, tentatively scheduled for late January 2022.
“It is not a statement on immigration policy, it is a statement that these are people,” said Mahar. “If you don’t have food, then nothing else matters and we have been adamant that this is not going to be a one time thing.”
reillyt19@bonaventure.edu
