Students battle national poverty with community service actions

By Jessica Geiger

Members of the Rider community kicked off the holiday season during National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness (HAHA) Week, which took place Monday, Nov. 13, through Friday, Nov. 17.

Students and faculty were able to give back to the community by participating in several activities designed to create awareness about hunger and to increase the number of people contributing to the fight against homelessness.

“The significance of the program is to provide help to families that are struggling,” said junior Nicole Lermond.

On Tuesday, Nov. 14, about 20 students spread out on the SRC lobby floor to sew blankets for the less fortunate.

“I am putting together blankets to help raise awareness and to keep the homeless warm for the winter,” said sophomore Jetty Hartsky.

On Wednesday, Nov. 15, members of the Rider community made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches throughout the day at stations set up at the bottom patio of the BLC, the patio in front of the Science Building and at Daly’s.

The sandwiches and blankets were taken to a shelter in New York City during the Midnight Run, which occurred that night.

On Thursday, Nov. 16, students gathered in Daly’s for the Hunger Banquet. During this meal, students were separated into three socioeconomic classes — upper, middle and lower­ — and each one received a different amount of food.

The banquet demonstrated the reality of being hungry, something the homeless endure everyday.

“It shows Rider students the day-in-the-life of an individual of these classes,” said junior Uchenna Duru. “One unexpected event like Hurricane Katrina can change your class in a blink of an eye.”

A discussion about how the community can become aware of the hunger and homelessness problem and how it can start to make changes to solve this problem also occurred at the banquet.

“There are still viable portions of Americans that are not able to put food on the table or a roof over their heads,” said sophomore Joshabel De La Cruz.

Other HAHA Week events included a Faces of Homelessness panel on Monday, Nov. 13, in which several homeless members of the community shared their stories, and a program called Hunger Arrest, where students donated money to the homeless.