Building Sandwiches and Interfaith Relationships

Dionysios Koroulakis*

Once a week students from various faith groups such as the Orthodox Christian Fellowship, Knights of Columbus, Catholic Daughters, Jewish Student Association, Muslim Student Association, and Buddhist Meditation Sangha gather in the Village C Alumni Lounge for an industrious 40 minutes of sandwich making. The effort, producing roughly 180 sandwiches a week (at this time), is funded by those students’ own $5 contributions, a symbolic sum to highlight the necessity of personal sacrifice in service, and additional funding from Campus Ministry. Representatives of the faith groups deliver the meals to the nearby Georgetown Ministry Center—a center that cares for the needs of local homeless men and women. The center’s program director recently sent us a humbling message stating, "the sandwiches we pass out are the homeless members’ lunch... they are sometimes the only food they receive during the day," emphasizing the real and immediate difference this project can make in the lives of those without food and homes.