A random ticket drawn from a hat could get you either a feast or a meager portion at the Community Service Center’s fifth annual Hunger Banquet this Wednesday. At 7:30 p.m. in the Ferguson Center ballroom, the CSC hopes to put state, national and worldwide hunger issues into perspective for students who participate.
“Many of the students at the University of Alabama are extremely fortunate to have access to an adequate amount of food, as well as the privilege to choose what we eat, and it is easy to take this for granted,” Lisa Bochey, director of hunger and homelessness at the CSC, said in a press release. “I think the Hunger Banquet is the perfect event for students to gain a new perspective on these issues and hopefully become motivated to do something to help.”
At the banquet, students will be given a ticket that divides the attendees into different groups that represent worldwide income levels. The income levels will determine the the makeup of the meal students receive, communicating what people who live in a certain income bracket can afford to eat.
The banquet’s purpose is to shed light on hunger issues, like the fact that many people around the world survive on less than $1 a day.
“Students will understand during this banquet that hunger and food security are not only a problem worldwide, but also in the own communities,” Wahnee Sherman, director of the CSC, said.
The banquet will bring something different to the table this year, Sherman said. The CSC will add a section of categories where the students will be divided specifically by Alabama hunger security statistics.
This will add a new dynamic to the meals because of statewide food security issues, which includes UA students and thousands of members of the Alabama community who struggle to bring food home and have adequate nutrition intake.
Sherman hopes this will bring the issue home for all participants because the global issue is of great concern, but connecting the students to their own friends and possibly family may drive them to take their own stand in helping starving people from Alabama to Africa.
“Students can get involved and use the information that they have learned and put that into action to help the hungry,” Sherman said.
The banquet, based on Oxfam America’s hunger relief campaign, is open to any student who signs up online for the event. Two hundred students are currently signed up to participate in the event, which Lane McLelland, assistant director of New College, will facilitate.
For more information, visit the Community Service Center at 346 Ferguson Center or online.
