When Avery Field, SPA-SOC/BA ’28, began brainstorming service projects to mobilize the American University students, she was guided by a single question: “What are the communities that really need our help right now?” 

On March 31, Field found her answer, organizing the Interfaith Community Action Project. The  afternoon initiative brought together about 25 students in the Mary Graydon Student Center to assemble $2,300 worth of personal and educational care packages for 50 immigrant families navigating the legal process in the DC area.

“I was really proud to have that much money and that many people to really put this project on its feet,” said Field, one of 20 Interfaith America BRAID fellows across the country and a Kay Spiritual Life Center Interbelief Bridge Builder.

Field received $1,000 for the service project from Interfaith America as part of her fellowship, and AU gave her another $500 through her work with the Kay Spiritual Life Center. The political science and journalism major raised an additional $800 from supporters in her hometown of Buffalo, New York. 

The care packages were filled with essential school supplies—pens, pencils, and spiral notebooks—along with water bottles, hand sanitizer, tissues, and a fidget toy. Field said that the goal was simple: “These items can make [immigrants’ experiences] just a little bit easier.” 

The packages will be distributed by Immigration Legal Services, a program of the Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Washington that provides legal representation and trains pro bono lawyers.

Beyond the physical aid, the project served as a bridge between diverse belief systems. Before packing began, Field shared 10 religious texts about service, encouraging volunteers to reflect on their shared call to action. 

“Avery [is so] skilled [at] bringing people in that wouldn’t usually think interfaith spaces are for them and showing them that they belong,” said Morgan Redmond, associate director of the Kay Spiritual Life Center. “Her passion is contagious, and people want to be a part of that.”  

For Field, the project was also personal. Drawing on her Jewish heritage, Field—whose great-grandmother immigrated to the United States after the Holocaust—said immigrants exemplify our country’s strength of diversity and religious pluralism. 

“People who have come here with all kinds of religious and cultural identities have made our country so much richer in many different ways,” she said.