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DETROIT (8/5/2014) -- The Titans have been working hard in the classroom and on the hardwood all summer long, but this past Saturday, it was time to work together for a different cause as the University of Detroit Mercy men's and women's basketball team volunteered its' time with Our Lady of Good Counsel's PBJ Outreach project.
"It is such a great program that really benefits a lot of people," said senior
Brie Wilcox of the UDM women's basketball team. "We helped a lot of people and anything we can do to make things better for them and for Detroit is something we want to do."
The Titan student athletes began their service project early in the morning by preparing the food and lunch bags at the church. After everything was all set, the student athletes headed downtown to help distribute all the sandwiches, snacks and drinks to those in need.
"It was great just to come together and help those that are less fortunate than us," said junior
Carlton Brundidge from the men's basketball team. "When you do these community service projects, it makes you realize what you have and what God has given us and there is so much we can do to give back."
For the Titans, it was the second time this year that they spent part of the weekend assisting with the PBJ Outreach.
"I think we all had a lot of fun just working together as a team and doing something great for the community," said Wilcox. "We did this earlier in the summer and it's always great to give back."
The PBJ Outreach in Detroit began in the winter of 2002 from the vision of Deacon Tim Sullivan from Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish in Plymouth, Michigan, and his wife, Gail. The couple visited Boston in the summer of 2002 and came away with the idea after helping a homeless person and seeing a local women prepare peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for other homeless people in a park.
On their way back to Detroit, Deacon Tim told his wife "I'm going to do that". After he made some initial contacts and received donations of peanut butter and jelly from Our Lady of Good Counsel parishioners, PBJ Outreach was launched on October 5, 2002. On that day, a few volunteers working behind one card table, prepared peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and gave them to between 30 and 40 homeless people who had gathered at the corner of Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. and Third in the Cass Corridor.
That was the start of a program that today feeds 250-350 homeless people every Saturday morning in inner city Detroit. It all began when a woman in Boston named Pam held up a sign that said: "Help Me I'm Homeless." Today, the PBJ Outreach operates at multiple locations in Detroit with an affiliate site in Chicago, Illinois.
