Not-for-profit serves meals to South Bend tent city residents

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (WNDU) - Hope for the Hungry is a non-profit that was started by Laquisha Jackson just this year.

“We’re here to bring hope. Hope for the Hungry, our mission is to serve with compassion, feed the mind and the body and we also want to impact through education,” Jackson said.

Friday the organization had one of its first events at Doulos Chapel where they served an estimated 100 meals to people living in the tent city.

Jackson says she was excited and a little bit nervous all at the same time while preparing for the event.

“I feel like we were all born to do something. We all have a passion or a desire to do something, and feeding the homeless or feeding the hungry in general is what my passion is,” Jackson said.

Even during the global pandemic, for Jackson, it was important to her to still find a way to safely help those in need.

“We know that there’s social distancing going on, but we still want to be able to have some type of connection with them to give them comfort and to give them hope and to uplift them,” Jackson said.

As the oldest of 13 kids, the issue of food insecurity hits close to home for Jackson. “When I was growing up, as a little girl, my family suffered from food insecurity. So I think that’s important for people to know. People who are homeless are not the only people who suffer from food insecurity.”

Jackson says that helping those who need it most is truly a group effort.

“Everybody can relate to at least one time in their life where they needed somebody or they needed a helping hand, and that’s what we are here to do,” Jackson said.

For more information on Hope for the Hungry and the work that they’re doing, click here.

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