What it’s about:
The Vendor for Day program began rather informally after several student groups inquired about volunteering for Street Sense during their 2007 spring break. Since Street Sense does not have any one-day volunteer opportunities, we just told these students they could come in and learn about Street Sense and how the vendors sell the papers … And the Vendor for a Day program was born.
Over the course of 2008 the program became more formalized. The way Vendor for a Day now works is the students come to our office and learn about the history of Street Sense for about 30 minutes and then spend another 30 minutes watching the vendor training video and listening to vendors share their sales techniques. All the students then get a temporary badge and a loaner vest and hit the streets selling the paper with vendors (typically in groups of three or four.)
In the last year alone, 215 students from 14 different colleges and high schools from all over the country have participated in the program. And this summer there are already 14 more groups signed up to take part in Vendor for a Day.
If you have a group interested in participating in Vendor for a Day, contact vendor manager Gregory Martin at 202-347-2006 or email him at [email protected]. Dates are filling up fast!
What participants had to say:
You guys taught me a huge lesson in humility and completely morphed my perspective. – Kenneth Shaevel
My experience with the students was wonderful. Working along with the Y.S.O.P. group was outstanding. The church dinner was great, and meeting new friends was a lot of fun. Eating and mingling with new friends – they were a part of me. – Sybil Taylor, Street Sense Vendor
Thank you for giving us the insight into homelessness–it was an experience I won’t ever forget. – Kaitlin
Vendor for a Day Poetry
Street Sense! Street Sense!
Help us help the homeless!
Workin’ people walk by and they seem
too careless
They don’t understand that so little
can help so much
The simplest handshake feels like a
healing touch
If I were you I’d be thankful you have a
home with a door,
Because the struggle of homelessness
is like fighting an endless war.
Think of what these people endure
every day just to survive
The next time you start to wish you
were never alive.
– Heath Sevy
* * *
Tell me, do you know what the
homeless go through?
I have a nice life
and I know you do too,
But do you ever worry about
that person on the street
Sellin’ Street Sense just to get
money to eat.
Some people I know work hard
just to survive
But it’s hard when they don’t
have a home in their lives.
You know the homeless life has
to suck
When all the fortunate people
are too greedy to spare a buck
The way people treat the homeless sure is a pity,
But to me, the homeless people
are the toughest in the city.
– Jonathan Barnett
Street Sense would like to offer a special thanks to our recent Vendor for a Day Groups: Bethel College, Y.S.O.P., St. Andrew’s Episcopal School, Civic Education project, Evanston, Ill.,Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana – Richmond, Clackamas Community College, Ore., Davidson College, Concord University
