Leaders In Action: Kayla Loges and The Blessing Bag Brigade  

Arts & Science's Leadership Students Pose Outside Bethany Hall With The Blessing Bag Brigade's Banner

Kayla Loges, a junior from the L&V Gentile Arts and Sciences Leadership Center is a champion of fellowship, leadership, and service. As a brother in the national service fraternity Alpha Phi Omega and competitively selected member of the Buccino Leadership Institute, Kayla is an influential leader in the Seton Hall community and beyond. With her passion for service and her aptitude for leadership, Kayla partnered with the Blessing Bag Brigade to raise awareness for this organization on a collegiate level and collect basic hygiene supplies for those in underprivileged communities.

The Blessing Bag Brigade is a non-profit organization dedicated to showing compassion and humanitarianism towards those in need. Kevin Garrison, founder of the BBB, has been committed to serving the less fortunate for more than a decade. Through this organization, Garrison has successfully collected and distributed more than 100,183 Blessing Bags in communities throughout New York and New Jersey. In addition to collecting hygiene items, this organization also serves meals in partnership with local soup kitchens and churches. The Blessing Bag Brigade has served almost 50,000 meals to those in need since its inception. "I love the work of this organization and the people I'm able to meet while supporting this mission," Kayla explains.

Students & The 250 Assembled Blessing Bags

Kayla has been supporting this organization's mission since 2017 and worked diligently to bring awareness to their mission at Seton Hall University. With the support of her mentors at the Co-Cathedral of St. Robert Bellarmine and all her peers in the A&S Leadership Cohort, Kayla successfully launched and completed a month-long initiative to support the BBB. From setting up collection bins in residence halls across campus, to compiling and packaging hundreds of bags for distribution, Kayla and her team worked tirelessly to lead this initiative and to involve the SHU community along the way. At the conclusion of this initiative, her cohort successfully compiled 250 blessing bags.

After working with this organization for five years, Kayla reflects that her greatest accomplishment is expanding the network of this organization. "This is the first time this organization was able to partner with a university and I’m so grateful that our cohort was able to contribute to this outcome," Kayla notes. Looking forward, Kayla hopes that this organization receives the recognition and support from other college campuses to spread their mission and continue to support those in need.

A note from Dr. Price, the Executive Director of the Buccino Leadership Institute: "I can't tell you how proud I am of Kayla and these students for partnering with Kevin Garrison and the Blessing Bag Brigade. Our leadership students continue to amaze me with their passion and selfless service to make the world a better place. Kudos to Kayla, Dean Kaiser, and all who participated in this great drive."

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