Chloe Chidester
In Motion Staff Writer
Every November, the Student Government Association of Daytona State College helps organize the Thanksgiving Basket Brigade, a charity started by former DSC student Jay Young and a group of friends in 1997.
Young, who runs the organization today, says the founding of the Basket Brigade was inspired by an Anthony Robbins seminar he and his friends attended. Robbins is a motivational speaker and coordinator of his own international Basket Brigade that started 30 years ago. While Robbins spoke, he mentioned that everyone should give back to other people. Young describes the beginning of the Basket Brigade as “a kind of grassroots movement,” saying that he and his friends just up and decided to start giving back to the community.
The Digital Falcon Media Productions Club makes a large basket of Thanksgiving treats for a family in need.
The Volusia Basket Brigade came to center around Daytona State College because Young was friends with a professor at the college, Senior Professor of Microbiology and Director of Academic Research, Professor Ram Nayar, who also advises the Rotaract Club at the college. Nayar met Young through their own personal Rotary Club, and Nayar brought the movement to DSC, then DBCC.
The baskets are assembled by volunteers at Daytona State College in room 154 of the Lenholdt Student Center, building 130, the week before Thanksgiving. Donation bins are dispersed throughout the campus. Donations are collected throughout the month until Nov. 21, the day before delivery.
But it doesn’t end there. The success of the project depends on volunteers and their generous donations. Even the smallest contribution makes a difference for an entire family. Anything left over at the end of the basket giveaway goes to the Second Harvest Food Bank, which will continue to collect donations until Dec. 5 for its holiday food pantry, one of the largest in Central Florida. Those who missed the Basket Brigade, but would like to contribute to Second Harvest can do so — at any time — by calling 407-295-1066. The agency provides 550 area nonprofit organizations that have feeding programs in six Central Florida counties, including Volusia.
Justin Gadrim, Parliamentarian of the SGA and a Graphic Design major, says that volunteers to assemble the baskets are always appreciated.
“A lot of the SGA members have classes around the time deliveries are being made. Sometimes we have to go out into the cafeteria, find a random person eating and grab them.”
Both Gadrim and Young stress the importance of volunteers. “It’s not a third party that’s bringing the baskets to the front doors,” Gadrim explains. “It’s all the volunteers.”
Young will not say how he gets the addresses of the families receiving baskets, nor does he list the criteria for their eligibility. Everything is done “under the table” and none of the volunteers, including Young himself, know the names that belong to the addresses they deliver to. This, he says, is of utmost importance to everyone’s safety.
The teams that deliver the baskets are always a mix of student and adult volunteers. Young makes it very clear to everyone, “We don’t let anybody go by themselves.”
Young stresses that every family’s reaction is different. He can recall times when he was grabbed by the arm and made to pray with the family. Other times he has just received jubilant hugs in thanks.
Another important rule for volunteers is that the families are never allowed to know where they came from. Each basket has a card that reads, “This is a gift from someone who cares about you. All we ask is that you do the same for someone else when you can.”
The Volusia Basket Brigade is among the oldest of the nearly 1,100 basket brigades throughout the United States.
The local organization started out delivering around 150 baskets in its first years, peaked at 600 and has been declining back into the 400s in recent years, with a total of 420 baskets delivered last year.