Donate Your Commute and Help the Homeless

STORY By Makena Gera

When the COVID-19 pandemic first hit in March 2020, students at Marist were sent home from spring break, unsure whether they’d return to campus to finish out the semester. Peter Palombo, now a sophomore, hasn’t set foot on the campus in over a year. Once he and his family realized the severity of the coronavirus and how it might impact his underlying health issues, Peter made the difficult decision to make his Fall and Spring semesters remote from his home in New Jersey. 

For any student, missing out on the college experience would be challenging. It’s easy to imagine how spending days on Zoom and being physically separated from friends could take a toll, causing someone to lose their motivation or drive. But for Peter, it did the opposite. He used his newfound freetime to make a difference.

“When COVID hit, a lot of people lost their jobs when businesses shut down,” Peter says. “There are a lot of people who were lucky to be able to work from home, but also a lot of people who weren’t. I wanted to find a way to help families who weren’t so fortunate.” 

Before the beginning of the pandemic, Peter had started working with Family Promise, a national organization focused on helping homeless and low-income families. In February 2020, he was enlisted to serve on the Next Generation Committee, a subgroup of Family Promise made up of Generation Z and young Millenials who work on raising awareness about the national crisis of family homelessness. Peter was focused on the problem that low-income families were facing — and that struggle was only heightened by the pandemic.

“I realized that because so many people were no longer commuting to work, they didn’t have the same commuting expenses they once did,” Peter explains. Many people were no longer spending $25 a day on parking or $50 on gas for the week. Others, like students, were no longer spending $5 on their morning Starbucks on the way to class. “So I asked people to donate that money to my fundraiser instead.”

This fundraiser, called “Donate Your Commute,” raised over $5,000 to fight family homelessness nationally through Family Promise. While the organization does work on fundraising campaigns, this idea was all Peter’s. By personally reaching out to family and friends and posting on social media, he garnered immense support and surpassed his original goal of $1,000.

Peter’s mom, Melissa Biggar, works at Family Promise, helping to direct the organization’s donations, fundraising, and communications outreach. Her work first introduced Peter to the problem of family homelessness, but he took the organization’s mission and ran with it.

“I think Peter’s involvement in the Next Generation committee has made him hyper-aware of the homelessness crisis. I'm dealing with it every day through my work, and he’s been exposed to the landscape of family homelessness because I talk about it at home,” Biggar says. “So that's what got him thinking outside the box a little bit.” 

While Biggar helped him with the logistics of the fundraiser and setting up the donation page through Family Promise, Peter did the rest. Although he had been interested in supporting and assisting homeless families in the New Jersey area and the country for a while, it was when COVID-19 hit that these families’ situations got even worse.

“More and more families came to us than ever before during the pandemic because the need was just so much greater,” Biggar says. “COVID affected low-income families the most, and those are the families we are dealing with. So many people lost their jobs because they’re typically in the entertainment or service industry, which are the ones that shut down.”

Illustration by Madeline Pastan

When Peter noticed the extent of the misfortune caused by COVID-19 for many families, he knew he needed to use his time and energy to make an impact. “With all the problems that I’ve had in my own life — from Lyme Disease, to an autoimmune disorder, and learning disabilities — I feel like it’s important to help people and make sure that everyone is doing well,” he says. “I started this fundraiser because we’re all going through a tough time right now, and I thought it would be a way to spread happiness and do some good in the world.”

According to Family Promise, one in 16 kids in America will experience homelessness by the age of six. Last year alone, there were three million children who experienced homelessness. With COVID-19, these statistics have become exponentially worse. The $5,000 raised through “Donate Your Commute” is not a small amount by any means. Through Family Promise, the money likely went far in helping homeless families nationally.

While Peter has confronted many of his own challenges, he believes that it’s important for a person to look beyond themselves and whatever difficulties they may be facing. “Peter has been through a lot, but I was really impressed and proud that he had the ability to think of others in this way,” Biggar says. “There was so much else going on that he could easily have been consumed by, but what he did instead was incredible.”

Peter was surprised by the amount of support his fundraiser received. “I’ve never done something like this before, and I thought it was crazy the amount of money we raised. I didn’t think we’d get anything near that.” 

While he does foresee working on more fundraisers down the line, Peter isn’t entirely sure what the future holds for him. He is, however, inspired by people who speak out about issues they feel strongly about — whether that be family homelessness, learning disabilities, or health issues. “Those people inspire me to keep going.” 

As for advice for anyone else looking to make a change in their community, Peter recommends to just start. Find something that you’re passionate about, and raise awareness however you can. 

“People often think they can’t make a difference, but I believe even small efforts can make a big impact,” Peter says. “I think we should always be looking for ways to help those in need.” 

 

FOR THE RECORD UNCUT

 

OBJECT PHOTOGRAPHY

Photography by Bobby Oliver

For this year’s project, we asked our Changemakers to bring items that had meaning to them to the shoot.

“The laptop was special to me because it was the device that allowed me to partake in classes and school activity since I was remote for the year. My dog provided me with happiness and entertainment during the pandemic while I was mostly alone and isolated from everyone. My running shoes were special because I picked up a habit to go running in my free time while there’s not much to do during Covid.”