AUSTIN, Texas — The Dub Academy in East Austin opened its doors to more than 100 volunteers on Sunday morning for a community service event focused on feeding Austin’s homeless community.
“Ultimately, people are just people, whether you've had a hard time, whether you've had a great life,” said Jamin Walters, who helped organize the event at Dub Academy.
The #HashtagLunchbag event included volunteers from the Austin Justice Coalition and the Austin Area Urban League of Young Professionals.
Volunteers used 18 heads of lettuce and 15 pounds of tomatoes to make 300 sandwiches, before taking all the food and water bottles to the streets.
“A lot of times people give donations, money, and don't get to see the direct result of their philanthropy. This gives you an opportunity to volunteer and help out directly to see the fruits of your labor,” said volunteer Nic Hollins.
Walters’ business is located just east of Interstate Highway 35 on Fifth Street. He said he often sees Austin’s homeless problem, but never has had a personal issue with homeless people.
“Austin has a massive homeless problem, as such in terms of there being a lot of homeless people downtown, so we're just trying to do what we can to try and help the situation,” Walters said.
He hopes to continue – and grow – the event next year.
“Just as a message to people to let people know that we are there. We care about them and we think about them and, you know, we love them,” Walters said.
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