SWAHP Indiscriminate Hunger awareness campaign features hunger banquet
Natasha Pugh
Issue date: 11/6/09 Section: News
Students' War Against Hunger
and Poverty facilitated an Oxfam
hunger banquet to promote awareness
of the global issue of hunger
and poverty Thursday, Oct. 29.
Information and materials for the
banquet were provided by Oxfam,
a nongovernmental organization
that looks for long-term solutions to
injustice and poverty globally.
Entering banquet guests randomly
selected a card, which stated his
or her socioeconomic status for the
evening. The high-income guests sat
at a table with a place setting and
had lasagna as their main course,
the middle-income guests were given
eating utensils, a chair, and a bowl
of rice and beans to eat, and the lowincome
groups were given floor seating,
a bowl of rice and no utensils.
The proportions of wealth in
the banquet were divided unevenly
with the wealthy being the minority
and the poor being the majority.
This division expressed the unfair
distribution of wealth globally. Over
a billion people live in poverty globally,
while 37 million Americans are
poverty stricken.
The banquet offered a unique
education experience, allowing
Lawrence students to assimilate the
challenges of hunger and poverty.
SWAHP's Co-president Chelsey Sand
expressed her opinion of the effectiveness
and purpose of the banquet.
"Lawrence students live in a bubble,
[and] the hunger banquet gives
students exposure by assimilating a
real world hunger experience," she
said.
The banquet also featured
speaker Jill Mitchler, the Emergency
Shelter of the Fox Valley's
Coordinator of Funds Development
and Volunteering. Mitchler was very
supportive of what SWAHP has done
on campus and discussed what the
emergency shelter has done what
can students can do to volunteer
with them to be involved in the
Appleton Community.
The banquet was one of many
themed events of the week to promote
the Indiscriminate Homelessness
and Poverty facilitated an Oxfam
hunger banquet to promote awareness
of the global issue of hunger
and poverty Thursday, Oct. 29.
Information and materials for the
banquet were provided by Oxfam,
a nongovernmental organization
that looks for long-term solutions to
injustice and poverty globally.
Entering banquet guests randomly
selected a card, which stated his
or her socioeconomic status for the
evening. The high-income guests sat
at a table with a place setting and
had lasagna as their main course,
the middle-income guests were given
eating utensils, a chair, and a bowl
of rice and beans to eat, and the lowincome
groups were given floor seating,
a bowl of rice and no utensils.
The proportions of wealth in
the banquet were divided unevenly
with the wealthy being the minority
and the poor being the majority.
This division expressed the unfair
distribution of wealth globally. Over
a billion people live in poverty globally,
while 37 million Americans are
poverty stricken.
The banquet offered a unique
education experience, allowing
Lawrence students to assimilate the
challenges of hunger and poverty.
SWAHP's Co-president Chelsey Sand
expressed her opinion of the effectiveness
and purpose of the banquet.
"Lawrence students live in a bubble,
[and] the hunger banquet gives
students exposure by assimilating a
real world hunger experience," she
said.
The banquet also featured
speaker Jill Mitchler, the Emergency
Shelter of the Fox Valley's
Coordinator of Funds Development
and Volunteering. Mitchler was very
supportive of what SWAHP has done
on campus and discussed what the
emergency shelter has done what
can students can do to volunteer
with them to be involved in the
Appleton Community.
The banquet was one of many
themed events of the week to promote
the Indiscriminate Homelessness
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