Hero Club and Chinese Club collaborate to deliver care packages in SF

Bracing the sting of a 50-degree chill, a group of 17 students maneuvered the sidewalks in San Francisco’s Tenderloin district on Feb. 20 during winter break. Their arms were filled with brown paper grocery bags, which they handed out to the homeless who lay huddled under layers of sweaters and heavy coats.

As a joint project between the HERO Club and Chinese Club, students handed out special care-packages filled with items such as mouthwash, sandwiches, socks and rescue blankets to the homeless in San Francisco. Later that day, they traveled to Chinatown and immersed themselves in local culture.

“A lot of the officers in each club are friends with each other, and Chinese Club knew about how HERO Club always does these trips,” Chinese Club president Nathon Chin said. “We were like ‘Hey why don’t we do two things in one,’ so we collaborated together and just made it happen.”

On the day before the delivery, students met in the quad to fill the packages with food and basic necessities, even including some feminine hygiene products. The funding for these items from an ASB grant and fundraisers by both clubs, costing around $330 for a total of 100 packages.

The group going to San Francisco met at 9:30 a.m. in the school’s parking lot before the drive. Upon arriving in the Tenderloin, they circled a few blocks near the City Hall and Asian Art Museum, delivering packages to many of the homeless who were sitting on curbs and lying on sidewalks.

“I learned about the conditions of places other than Saratoga,” freshman William Yin said. “Other people are not as fortunate as us and we should help them out.”

All of the homeless expressed gratitude, some politely and others enthusiastically.

“There was a moment where we handed some care packages to a few people and they shouted after us, ‘Happy Chinese New Year!’ It was just a really funny and earnest moment,” senior Clifford Yin said.

Once all the packages had been delivered, they drove to Chinatown and had lunch in an underground food court that sold Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese and Korean meals. Senior Nick Di explained that this food court was of the “hidden gems” in the Chinatown area he initially was unaware of.

Following this meal, the students split up into multiple groups and wandered around Chinatown, immersing in the local culture and tea-tasting in tea shops as part of the Chinese Club component of the trip.

“I also learned that there were many organizations aimed to assist the homeless; however, they need help marketing themselves,” Di said.

Clifford admits that the seniors could have taken several more precautions: They had driven all of the students without any parent chaperones.

“We should also probably have parents next time because it’s a big liability risk,” Chin said. “But it’s a different experience with your friends; you get to have a little more fun.”