Bread and Roses (and Alex Rousset)

Alex Rousset recently joined an all women service organization on campus known as Belles. While the mainly known focus of this organization from students is their work with domestic violence awareness, these women also work with various other service placements and are able to volunteer in other service opportunities.

On a Thursday night in the middle of March, Alex, who has long brown hair and is incredibly tall, looking laid back in comfy clothes, was excited to open up about one of her favorite places to service. Bread and Roses is one of the optional places to do service. Located in Venice, California, this café is open Monday through Thursday, 8 am to noon, and provides meals for the homeless.

Having done multiple service placements in high school including visiting a convalescent home and gathering food for Thanksgiving meals for the homeless, Alex has always enjoyed giving back to the community. Although taking in everything she was experiencing, going into college, Alex was looking for a more hands-on type of service that would allow creating deeper connections with others.

While Alex works mainly on Tuesdays at Bread and Roses, she is able to serve meals to those in need. One woman that Alex always sees is described to be in her late 20s. Also described as beautiful and even vegetarian, this woman not only looks after herself but also her adorable 3-year-old son. Now Alex’s work does not go unnoticed as simply handing out meals can once be overlooked. The woman that Alex always sees actually took the time to thank her for all of her hard work at the café. Alex mentions that it really touched her because she never realized that someone would actually thank her for doing something that she genuinely enjoyed. She mentioned that it was nice to be recognized but she also never saw her service as work and really did just enjoy coming to work every Tuesday to make new interactions with people.

Alex’s simple act of kindness was an inspiration to this woman, providing her with a potential new drive to succeed and move forward with her life. The act of handing out food or passing out drinks shows that small acts can really mean so much when faced with adversity. The hands-on experience that Alex had was able to impact and influence someone around her. As Bread and Roses’ mentality of “hearts starve as well as bodies,” the café strives to make sure that people that come in for meals not only leave with a full stomach but also with a full heart. Alex says she’s lucky because she not only gets to see the progress of people she meets every time she stops in to do service but she also gets to leave with a positive outlook as well.

To find out more information on Bread and Roses and how to volunteer click here: http://www.stjosephctr.org/bread_roses.html

Watch a news segment that highlights the great things that Bread and Roses does for the community here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aUu7Dgae6g&feature=player_embedded

Learn more about the lovely ladies of the Belles Service Organization and all that they do to give back to the community here: http://studentaffairs.lmu.edu/activitiesservice/centerforserviceaction/serviceopportunities/joinaservicegroup/serviceorganizations/belles/

 Shannon Iriarte