Students gather to bake cookies for the homeless

A group of IU students gathered around the center counter in the kitchen of St. Paul’s Catholic Center Thursday night, icing heart-shaped cookies and singing Disney songs.

These students weren’t there to practice their vocal technique, though — they were there to bake and ice over 140 cookies for the Interfaith Winter Shelter.

“It’s really nice to help do something like this for others,” freshman Alicia Mehling said. “This is our act of kindness for the shelter.”

The Interfaith Winter Shelter is a low-barrier shelter that various churches in the Bloomington area host one or two nights a week.

The shelter aims to provide food and shelter to the homeless and relies on a large number of volunteers like the students from St. Paul’s to help out each night.

The cookie baking project was spearheaded by IU junior Kailyn Haverstock. After getting a group together to make soup for the shelter last semester, she said it felt natural to do something for the guests for Valentine’s Day.

“A lot of us here are involved with the shelter,” she said. “The people at the shelter have become like family to us.”

When she came up with the idea to bake cookies for Interfaith, Haverstock said she got in touch with Michael Fabrizio, the assistant campus minister at St. Paul’s. He said he thought the idea was great and that he just had to make sure the kitchen wasn’t being used by one of the families that attend the church.

“We really focus on students peer-ministering, and we really had a nice turnout tonight,” he said. “It’s great to have people here wanting to help others.”

Junior Jasmine Galvez said she often volunteers at the shelter with Kailyn, but has never baked for it before. She said she loves going to the shelter because it allows her to give back.

“Being able to give the guests something to show that they’re loved is an awesome feeling,” she said.

Haverstock agreed and said interacting with the guests at the shelter was the most important aspect of volunteering.

“Knowing that someone cares and is listening to them really brightens their moods,” she said.

The shelter was hosted at the First Christian Church on Kirkwood Avenue.

“We all form relationships with the guests at the shelter,” Haverstock said. “And it’s amazing how many people jumped onto this cookie-baking project.”