TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Today on the south side, volunteers spent the first day of the new year at Santa Rita Park handing out food and hand-knitted beanies to the homeless.
The “Day One” event was hosted by “Deejays Against Hunger.”Its founder, Jahmar Anthony says he wants to inspire people to be better this year.
“Let’s start the year off positive,” Anthony said. “We have so many things that are going on in the world, let’s start day one-off positive, that’s why I called it ‘Day One.’ Let’s start giving back, let’s start looking out for the less fortunate.”
He started “Deejays Against Hunger” about a decade ago as a way to do his part to help the community.
Even after a busy night like New Year’s Eve for DJs, he and the group served about 70 to 80 people on Wednesday.
“It’s cool to have fun, but it’s also better to serve,” volunteer Harold Gaines said.
While Anthony does a lot of this work with money out of his pocket, he says he also gets some support from businesses and community members. One of his friends spent the past year making the 100 beanies that were distributed at the event.
“It’s super warm, they’re like double-knit beanies, all handmade,” Anthony said.
About four years ago, he expanded his efforts to Jamaica. He just got back a couple of weeks ago from his most recent visit.
“If somebody is not looking out for you in Jamaica, you can easily get forgotten about, so it felt good for me to be able to go there and show people, you know you’re not forgotten about,” Anthony said.
This cause is so important to him because he says homelessness can happen to anybody.
“One day I can wake up tomorrow and I can be homeless, so you know what, why not help somebody, maybe good karma comes down, maybe if I end up homeless one day somebody will turn around and help me,” Anthony said.
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Madison Thomas joined KGUN 9 in July of 2023 as a multimedia journalist. She graduated from Arizona State University in May of 2023 with a degree in journalism and mass communication. She has lived in Arizona her entire life and grew up in Douglas. Madison is thrilled to share the stories from the community she grew up in. Share your story ideas and important issues with Madison by emailing madison.thomas@kgun9.com or by connecting on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook.
