Hastings College students and faculty will be informing the community of local and global poverty issues by sponsoring Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week 2007, Nov. 9-13.

Twenty HC students and faculty members have actively collaborated with community members to offer the campus and the Hastings community a free concert, a vigil, a fair trade sale and a hunger banquet. Each event was planned to meet a common objective, Student Coordinator Marcia Keele said.

“Our goal is to have students feel for these people who are less fortunate and feel empowered to work for change, to be a voice for the voiceless,” Keele said.
    

This is the fourth year HC has sponsored Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week activities on campus. HC’s version of the week is modeled after other Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week observations around the United States. All events will be held on campus, except for the concert. Events are coordinated by Students Against Hunger and Homelessness.

Events
Friday, Nov. 9 

Free Concert 6-8 p.m. at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, 501 N. Burlington Ave.
Doors open at 5:30 p.m.
6-8 p.m. volunteers may make lunches for Open Table (a non-profit group feeding the hungry in Hastings.) Meat donated by Sodexho food services.
6- 8 p.m. Free Concert with Casting Pearls, a Christian rock band from Lincoln; Fate of Angels of Omaha; and Lyndale of Hastings
*for admission to concert, please bring a can of food to be given to the local pantry

Sunday, Nov. 11 

Vigil, 8-9 p.m. at Labyrinth on HC Campus (near French Memorial Chapel)
Sponsored by HC Religious Organizations Committee. The service will be an ecumenical service of prayer and reflection held outdoors.

Monday, Nov. 12 and Tuesday, Nov. 13 

Fair Trade Sale 8 a.m.-8 p.m., at Perkins Library, Monday and Hazelrigg Student Union on Tuesday. Items from the non-profit organization, Ten Thousand Villages, will be offered for sale. Twenty percent of the profits go to help the hungry and homeless in our area. Items offered are made by artisans from around the world.

Tuesday, Nov. 13

6 p.m. - Hazelrigg Student Union

Hunger Banquet, where attending members will be randomly assigned varying food amounts, corresponding with low-, middle-, and high-income distributions of food. This meal is a simulation of the actual situation of the world’s hungry: where the rich eat to their fill and many of the poor remain hungry. The student leadership honorary, Omicron Delta Kappa (ODK) is coordinating the event. HC administration and Sodexho Dining Services are funding this meal and for each person who attends, five dollars will be donated to a local charity dealing with hunger and poverty issues. This event is open to both campus and community members, and is free of charge.

Those interested in attending should contact Meggan Lloyd at mnlloyd@hastings.edu; Jeff Richards at jrichards@hastings.edu or call Jean Heriot at 461-7770. Please sign-up for the banquet at no charge by 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 7.

All Week

Advocacy
Look for advocacy tables and information at every event. Child Defenders, Oxfam, Ten Thousand Villages, the student Habitat for Humanity group, and others will offer information and a chance for citizens to advocate for the Hungry and Homeless. 

For more information on the week’s events, contact Keele at mkeele@hastings.edu or call Jean Heriot at 461-7770.

Download a campus map at: http://www.hastings.edu/downloads/HastingsCollegeMap.pdf

-30-