Local members of the ONE Campaign and Just Peace are working with No More Deaths to start a clothing and supply drive to aid the homeless and people crossing the Mexican border.

The clothing drive will end on Nov. 30, at which time there will be a gathering from all the groups to gather the collections and celebrate their causes with food and entertainment. The groups are asking for donations of warm clothing and toiletries.

Kathleen Day is a campus minister at NAU’s United Christian Ministry, which runs Just Peace. She said some students will be taking clothes to the border to deliver them to immigrants, but personal opinion about the issue of illegal immigration should not stop people from contributing to the drive.

“People have different ideas of immigration,” Day said. “But [immigrants] should not have to suffer. It’s trying not to be political but helping anyone in need within our midst.”

Day said she is hoping for about 100 care packages to be distributed to the homeless and immigrants. She said this is an inexpensive way for students to make a difference.

“We think people really want to do something,” Day said. “People sometimes think there’s hopelessness they can’t help with.”

The ONE Campaign is a national organization vying to stop hunger and AIDS around the world. This year, ASNAU began providing funds to bring the ONE Campaign to Flagstaff to help with the local community.

Emily Waldron, a junior political science major and the new programs director for ASNAU, said the student government is trying to reach out to broader areas.

“ASNAU is at a stage where we’re trying to expand our mission to a global level,” Waldron said. “We’re trying to collect warm clothes, not only for those in the U.S., but those crossing the border into the U.S. Everyone is human and deserves human rights and dignity.”

Christa Sadler is a volunteer with the No More Deaths chapter of Tuscon, which tries to prevent deaths in Arizona along the Mexican border. She said working with the ONE Campaign and Just Peace is going to be very important in preparing for
the upcoming winter.

“This is a really critical time of the year,” Sadler said. “Our goal is to try and stop the death and the suffering on the border.”

According to the website for No More Deaths, 206 people died trying to cross the Mexican border in Arizona alone. Their mission is “to end death and suffering on the
U.S./Mexico border through civil initiative.”

Sadler said students can easily help improve people’s lives.

“You don’t have to spend a ton of money or give away all your clothes,” Sadler said. “You can just spend a dollar and make a person’s life a lot better.”

For more information on how to get involved, one can attend a Just Peace meeting on Monday, Nov. 23 at 6 p.m. at the Campus Ministry building, or call 774-1572.