Student group scrubs away at poverty

Students Organized Against Poverty dedicates itself to aid the Bloomington community by providing furniture to people in poverty or in need. \nSenior Chong Choe, SOAP's former president for two years and current advisor, described the organization as an eye-opening experience. \n"At IU, it's hard to see how bad people have it," Choe said. "I've delivered beds to 3 and 4 year olds who have slept on the floor their whole lives. Doing all this helps you shape your own perspective about the world around you."\nFormed in 1993, SOAP's approximate 400 members attempt to achieve goals that were not being met in the community. Low or no income families have little money to buy food or clothing and by providing furniture, SOAP aims to substantially help families. \nSenior Luke Chanley, current president of SOAP, described the families' feelings as positive and uplifting.\n"They're psychologically better off after we deliver to them," Chanley said. "We give them the confidence to get other things and to be on their own. It's a new start and beginning."\nJim McFall, vice president of SOAP, echoes Chanley. \n"It makes you feel great making someone else's day and making someone very happy," he said. "It's the highlight of their day. They depend on it."\nSOAP serves as a bridge between the community and the University, Choe said. Unintentionally, IU students are populating the Bloomington area and driving up living costs and flooding the job market. Consequentially, this affects the community in a negative way.\n"SOAP gives IU students the ability to mend the things we inferentially have done to the community," Choe said. "We don't see (the poverty) because we're in the best or sheltered part of the community. We don't see the outside."\nCurrently in the Bloomington area -- excluding college students -- one out of every three people live in poverty conditions, Chanley said.\n"There is a need for people to live in better conditions. We are benefiting the whole community in general," he said.\nChanley suggested substituting a weekend of partying for one of volunteering. \n"Driving around the outside of campus, it's amazing what you can see," he said. "There are a lot of people living in these conditions. Since we get so much attention as students, it's nice to acknolowedge that there is a need and try to help them as good as we can."\nChoe said that most families, although grateful, find it difficult to accept the furniture. \n"To be that badly off and ask for help takes a lot out of you," he said. "(The families) are extremely thankful, yet humiliated to ask for help."\nChoe and McFall said there are two problems facing the organization. Either there is not enough manpower or a lack of furniture. SOAP appreciates all furniture donations, yet limits themselves to appliances. Furniture is expected to be undamaged. \nGetting involved in this organization is simple, Chanley said. Shifts are picked by the individual on a volunteer basis and last for two hours on the weekends. Transportation is provided by a SOAP van. Mass meetings are held every Tuesday in the Student Activities Tower in the Union. \nChanley said that overall, working with SOAP is fulfilling.\n"After the delivery and the thank you's, it's worth being in the club itself," he said. "A lot of organizations are about talking about things. SOAP is active and makes a difference with our own two hands and trying to put an end to local poverty."\nTo donate or obtain furniture visit soap@indiana.edu or call 855-2319.