Notre Dame partners with community organizations for Walk the Walk Week service project

Nearly 300 students from the University of Notre Dame took over Duncan Student Center on Feb. 1 to sort through thousands of donated items to create winter and personal care kits for this year’s Walk the Walk Week service project.
The campus-wide donation drive launched in early January and encouraged faculty, staff and students to donate new supplies, including personal hygiene items, socks, waterproof gloves, winter hats, diapers and more. All donations were distributed to four local organizations serving individuals in the South Bend region facing hardship and housing insecurity: Center for the Homeless, Hope Ministries, Our Lady of the Road and St. Margaret’s House.
"It’s great to see the Notre Dame community come out in solidarity and support of this important service project,” says Ethan Chiang, Notre Dame Student Government’s director of South Bend Engagement. “We are supporting local organizations that help the unhoused population in South Bend.”

“I am just thrilled to be at this incredible event. The support we will get from this event is so helpful to the women and children we serve and we are so grateful.”
In total, nearly 3,000 items were donated by Notre Dame faculty and staff and 721 winter and personal care kits were assembled by students. In addition, students made blankets and wrote personal notes for the care kits that were distributed on Feb 3.
“I am just thrilled to be at this incredible event,” says Katie Elliot, executive director of St. Margaret’s House. “The support we will get from this event is so helpful to the women and children we serve and we are so grateful.”
The event was co-sponsored by Notre Dame Student Government, the Office of Public Affairs and Communications, and Procurement Services in partnership with the Office of the President.
Walk the Walk Week is a week-long series of University, department, and student-sponsored events to commemorate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy, and took place this year from Jan. 26 to Feb. 1.
Originally published by at publicaffairs.nd.edu on Feb. 6, 2025.
Latest ND NewsWire
- Biennial Catholic Social Tradition Conference to take up Vatican II’s invitation to discern the signs of the timesScholars of theology, sociology, political science, ethics and more will gather for the upcoming Catholic Social Tradition Conference from March 20 to 22 at the University of Notre Dame. Hosted by the Institute for Social Concerns, “Signs of the Times: Interdisciplinary Responses to Religious Nationalism” will remember the 60th anniversary of two significant Vatican II texts, Gaudium et spes (Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World) and Dignitatis humanae (Declaration on Religious Freedom).
- Adm. Christopher Grady, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to deliver Notre Dame’s 2025 Commencement addressAdm. Christopher Grady, the Vice Chairman and Acting Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will be the principal speaker and receive an honorary degree at the University of Notre Dame’s 180th University Commencement Ceremony on May 18, Notre Dame President Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C., announced today. Grady, currently serving as the 12th Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the nation’s second-highest-ranking military officer, graduated from Notre Dame in 1984 and received his commission through Notre Dame’s Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps.
- Diverging views of democracy fuel support for authoritarian politicians, Notre Dame study showsA new study from Marc Jacob, assistant professor of democracy and global affairs at Notre Dame’s Keough School of Global Affairs, found that diverse understandings of democracy among voters shape their ability to recognize democratic violations and, in turn, affect their voting choices.
- Soft, air-filled 'muscles' power a new robotic exosuit created at Notre DameThe phrase “robotic exosuit” likely calls to mind something metallic, rigid, and hinged—Iron Man’s suit or the dozens of other, similar apparatuses that appear on screen, in video games, and even on the red carpet. Researchers at the University of Notre Dame are working to show that for many…
- Prisons of our own perceptionsZip! Zap! Zoom! About a dozen students at Westville Correctional Facility stand in a circle and trade finger points while saying these words in a competitive game that doubles as a warm-up for an acting class. Zip! The mood is jovial. Zap! Aaron takes the energy from Shakka and turns…
- Asian American journalist and activist Helen Zia to speak at Notre DameHelen Zia, a pioneering journalist, author and activist, will present the Asian American Distinguished Speaker Series lecture at the University of Notre Dame at 5 p.m. on March 19 (Wednesday) in the Smith Ballroom at the Morris Inn.