Loyola students permitted to resume food outreach to homeless

Published: 2005-12-21

BALTIMORE (CNS) -- Clutching a fistful of bagged ham and cheese sandwiches in one hand and a steaming cup of hot chocolate in the other, Cornell McCowley stood outside St. Vincent de Paul Church in Baltimore on one of the coldest nights of the year and said he was thankful to the students from Loyola College in Maryland who gave him the food Dec. 19. As the thermometer dipped into the low 20s and stinging wind chills pushed the frigid air temperature well below zero, the 39-year-old homeless man said this was a place where he could be warmed by friendly conversation and something nutritious to eat. "They are helping the people," said McCowley, who often wraps himself in blankets and sleeps outside the church in a small park. "If your mom or dad was out here, you'd find something for them to eat. I appreciate what they're doing." The students' outreach is nothing new -- men and women from the Jesuit-run college in Baltimore have been giving out sandwiches since 1991. What is new is that the students are now doing it legally after a recent brush with city officials.

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