Using various hints and clues, Fordham University students have been dashing across New York City for nearly two weeks, competing for prizes in an advocacy-driven scavenger hunt. Fordham’s continued partnership with the Street Vendor Project’s (SVP) Street Vendor Scavenger Quest both highlights and upholds New York City’s community of street vendors.
Every spring, the SVP presents its annual Street Vendor Scavenger Quest, a fundraiser in which participants are challenged with completing tasks while engaging with local street vendors. Fordham’s Center for Community Engaged Learning (CCEL) has partnered with the SVP in order to support their quest.
A recent email from CCEL to the Fordham community explained that the SVP is a “membership-based organization of over 2,900 members who champion the rights of street vendors as small businesses to earn a living and contribute to the culture and life of New York City.” They described this program as a “perfect way to embrace New York City as your campus.”
By participating in this scavenger hunt, Fordham students are given the ability to confront and understand the institutional challenges New York City street vendors face on a daily basis. According to the CCEL’s Assistant Director of Programs and Operations Maria Rodriguez-Gomez, some of these challenges include “permit access, health regulations, and interactions with city agencies.”
Students help address these issues “through research, storytelling, and policy awareness to support advocacy efforts,” said Rodriguez-Gomez.
Additionally, Fordham’s partnership with the SVP hopes to emphasize and “celebrate the long tradition of street vending in NYC and the diversity of cultures and backgrounds from which vendors come, noting that an estimated 95% of street vendors are immigrants who operate at the margins of the formal economy,” according to CCEL’s email.
In order to participate in this scavenger hunt, students were given the option of either joining Fordham’s official team, “Engaged Ram Students,” or creating their own team with friends, family and other acquaintances. Fordham faculty and staff also have their own team, “Engaged Ram Professionals,” according to CCEL. Once a team is registered, students will gain access to a mobile app where they can unlock all of their quests and missions.
These missions include “answering street food trivia, hitting the streets to meet vendors and try their wares, and more,” according to the SVP’s website. Once these missions are completed, students must upload photos of their excursions to the app. For each mission a team completes, they gain a certain number of points. The teams with the most points earn prizes, such as “NYC event tickets, original art, and more.”
“These early experiences enabled students to forge meaningful connections with the city, laying the groundwork for ongoing engagements like this one,” said Rogriguez-Gomez. “It’s inspiring to witness their progression from orientation programs to deeper involvement in issue-based community work.”
