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Inside Kennedy’s Rent-a-Friend
Emily Lee ’26 in Features | February 23, 2024
Each House at Lawrenceville has many special traditions, yet one that stands out among all is the Kennedy House’s annual Rent-a-Friend in January. The program is a fundraiser for Homefront, an organization located in Central New Jersey that aims to help families in need. Kennedy Rent-a-Friend allows students to “rent” the residents of Kennedy to help with any task of their choosing ranging from cleaning to tutoring. The program takes place every year in January.
“It’s part of the House culture,” House President Toni Ebunlomo ’25 explains. Ebunlomo noted that the fundraiser is a fun way to raise money while supporting a local charity aimed at eliminating poverty. Kennedy residents are mostly indifferent about the program since they have been doing it for so long; “it is in the House description,” states Reed Cloninger ’25, who is organizing the program this year.
Leo Min ’26 claims that the program is symbolic of Kennedy’s house spirit; he says, “Helping out the community to thrive, helping other people; that is our House”.
While Kennedy residents have overall positive perspectives regarding the program, there have also been some interesting tasks other students have rented Kennedians out for. Ebunlomo says that some girls had rented “Kennedians to go on a date with them, and afterwards [have them] clean their room.” Other tasks include washing someone’s car, picking flowers, and more. The donation-only nature of the fundraiser makes it so interesting, as Kennedy residents could be rented to complete tasks of a wide range.
Customers report overall positive reviews from the service. Matt Campbell of the Performing Arts department reported that “[he] really enjoyed it when [he] hired four or five guys for gardening, more specifically transplanting flowers”. It was an arduous job that took a long time, but “the Kennedy residents handled the task with grace”, Campbell states. Campbell says that he would definitely hire them again.
Overall, the Kennedy Rent-a-Friend is a program special to the Kennedy House where residents get to help the community for a good cause; it is clear that when in need of simply a friend or help on anything, one should just reach out and Rent-a-Friend from Kennedy house!
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