For the past two Novembers, the Vickery Meadow Food Pantry has been delighted to host the Dallas Alumni Chapter of Loyola University New Orleans as part of the university’s national alumni day of service, a.k.a. Wolves on the Prowl (WOTP). The Wolves on the Prowl service day is part of Loyola’s Jesuit identity/mission of service by being “men and women for and with others.”
The ever positive and helpful Ravi Dubey, the president of DFW chapter, helps organize events for approximately 650 alumni in the DFW area. Their events include the service project, an annual crawfish boil (New Orleans!), a Mardi Gras meetup, a Saints watch party and a baseball game (Rangers or Roughriders). The goals of the DFW alumni chapter are to provide a landing place for alumni who are new to the area, to help build connections among local alumni, and to help local alumni feel and stay connected to the university.
On Ravi’s first day at the Vickery Meadow Food Pantry, we asked him to help with neighbor intake because he could speak Spanish. Little did he know that the volunteer working next to him, Marisa Valdes, was also a Loyola Alumnae. That was it! We were able to reel him in as a full time volunteer. We are happy to have him and we encourage other Loyola alumni volunteers to join us as well!
Thanks to the WOTP volunteers who helped us out this November. They immediately understood what needed to be done and then they did it– whether that was packing vegetable bags or serving our neighbors at the distribution door. We are always happy to have them and we hope they will come back next year.
To learn more about Loyola University New Orleans and WOTP, here is their link.
https://www.loyno.edu/community/community-engagement