By: Provided by Houghton Athletics
When Billy McCrae was in fifth grade his best friend's parents both lost their jobs in the span of a month. Their family was struggling financially and having a lot of trouble finding enough food.
McCrae decided to make his friend one of his favorite foods, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Afterwards, McCrae and his mom talked to the youth mission leader at their church to see if they could do anything to help others in similar circumstances. And the Peanut Butter & Jelly Club was born.
Since its creation in 2011, the Peanut Butter & Jelly Club in New Jersey has made over 29,000 sandwiches. Wanting to help first the women and children, the club donates their sandwiches to a local soup kitchen in the nearby low-income city of Camden.
"I've gone and volunteered at the places I have delivered sandwiches to, and just watching these kids stand in line with their parents to get food is just heartbreaking," said McCrae. "It's things that you never want to see."
When McCrae applied to Houghton College he wrote his application essay on his work in Camden. After reading the essay, his admissions counselor emailed him to ask if he would consider bringing the club to Western New York.
While interviewing for the Houghton Honors program, both Dr. Benjamin Lipscomb, Professor of Philosophy and Director of Honors Program at Houghton College, and AC Taylor, Director of Student Engagement, loved the club and again encouraged McCrae to bring it to Houghton. Subsequently, McCrae listed this encouragement and the planning that followed as a primary reason he decided to attend Houghton.
Since September, with the help of his basketball teammate and treasurer of the PB&J Club, Caleb Lutz, the club has donated an average of 400 sandwiches per week to St. Luke's Mission of Mercy in Buffalo, New York. The Mission's primary focus has been to help feed women and children in need, which McCrae listed as the reason he chose them when searching for partnering agencies. McCrae is quick to deflect credit to the volunteers who turn out each week and to the Fillmore Dollar General who has made the weekly shopping trip go smoothly."Dollar General has been incredibly helpful. it's obviously not easy handling 40 loaves of bread and 20 jars of peanut butter and jelly, but I literally just show up and they have everything picked out and ready for me," McCrae added.
The club meets Wednesdays at 9 p.m. in the Campus Center basement. Anyone willing to help is welcome.
To learn more about the PB&J Club, or to volunteer, please email
Billy McCrae or
Caleb Lutz or visit the following:
Instagram:
@pbj_houghton
Twitter:
@PbjclubN
The PB&J club will also collect donations at the 2
nd Annual "Christmas on the Court", when the Houghton women's basketball team hosts Hamilton College on December 6 at 7 p.m. Fans who bring peanut butter, jelly or bread will have the opportunity to compete for prizes, and more importantly, help further the mission to feed needy women and children in Buffalo at St. Luke's Mission of Mercy.