"There was this space, like ice, separating us," Oneil Batchelor, a janitor who worked on the campus, told The Washington Post.
But eventually, Bellamy spoke up. He began by saying hello to Batchelor and later graduated to making small talk with him. From there, the two started talking about more meaningful topics: their experiences as immigrants, their entrepreneurial dreams, politics and music.
"Once you see it, you can't unsee it," Bellamy said.
Bellamy, 22, immigrated to the U.S. from India when he was 5. When he was a child, his parents worked during the day, and they attended night school to earn their college degrees.
Bellamy told The Washington Post he could empathize with workers on campus, many of whom are immigrants working for better lives.
So he created Unsung Heroes, a Facebook page that highlights campus workers with personal profiles. The profiles detail their lives, providing background information and a peek into the lives of the people who work to keep the campus operating efficiently.
The page, which began as a class project, gives a name and a story to many previously ignored workers at Georgetown.
"Everybody's in their own world," Batchelor told The Washington Post. "A lot of students have good hearts and were raised right. It's just not always easy for them to get to know people around them."
Unsung Heroes helps students do just that -- get to know the people around them who matter.
The page introduced students to Batchelor and raised $2,500 for him to jump-start his dream of creating a Jamaican food business, which he launched on campus.
The group also raised more than $5,500 to fund a trip to Sudan to reunite a cashier with his family, who he hasn't seen for more than four decades.
"I walk through campus now, and people are waving at me, saying 'hi' all the time," Batchelor said.
So far, 19 unsung heroes have been featured on the group's Facebook page.
Read more at The Washington Post.
