Events scheduled during Campbell’s Hunger & Homelessness Week 2014 include the third annual Hunger Banquet. Last year, several dozen students participated in the banquet to learn more about global hunger. This year’s version will focus on hunger issues in the U.S. (Photo by Joanna D’Ancona for Pine Burr yearbook)
BUIES CREEK — With the goal to raise awareness about food insecurity and homelessness in the United States, Campbell University’s Department of Social Work is holding its 3rd annual Hunger & Homelessness Week Nov. 17 through Nov. 21.
The week-full of activities include a canned food drive, a Hunger Banquet, the screening of the documentary “Something You Can Call Home,” and the debut of the Box-a-Thon Sleepout.
For the latter event, students are invited to bring a box to the Academic Circle beginning at 9 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 19, and try to sleep outside overnight using only the box for shelter. Donuts and coffee will be provided at 11 p.m.
“This event gives students the opportunity to understand what it’s like for people experiencing homelessness who cannot access a shelter bed,” said Susie Mallard Barnes, assistant professor of social work and faculty advisor of the Social Work Club, which is organizing many of the week’s activities. “Students will gain a glimpse of what it’s like to sleep outside even when it’s cold, or wet, or when they have something important to do in the morning (like going to class!). What will be different for them, versus people experiencing homelessness, is that Campus Security will look out for them, rather than run them off. No one will come along and hurt them or steal from them. . . .
“The biggest difference of all is that on Thursday morning, our students will go home and won’t have to worry about where they will sleep next.”
The social work department began to sponsor Hunger & Homelessness Week in 2012, when Barnes joined the Campbell faculty. Since the awareness campaign’s inception, one of its highlights has been a Hunger Banquet. That’s back this year, too, and will be held Thursday, Nov. 20, at 6 p.m., in the Rumley Center.
In previous years, though, Campbell’s Hunger Banquet was modeled after the Oxfam Hunger Banquet, which focused on global hunger. Barnes wanted to make the banquet more specific to the U.S. this year. She used a Summer Research Grant from the Provost’s Office to conduct a literature review on the spectrum of eating in the U.S., based on income and class.
The result is what will be a new program for this year’s Hunger Banquet: “What’s for dinner?: An American version of the Hunger Banquet.”
When students arrive to the banquet Thursday night, they will receive a randomly drawn ticket that designates a socioeconomic class in the U.S. Their detonation will determine which meal they are served. Meals will include what is commonly served in soup kitchens and what can be purchased with SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), as well as what you might find in working, middle and affluent homes in the U.S.
“We’re hoping to dispel some of the myths around food insecurity in the U.S.,” Barnes said.
To register for the Hunter Banquet, email [email protected]/* */. Cost to attend is $5 or three cans of food, which will go to the FIVE N TWO Grill & Pantry, a nonprofit restaurant that helps support a pantry run by the Solid Rock United Methodist Church in nearby Cameron. A representative from the FIVE N TWO will speak at the banquet.
In addition, on Wednesday, Nov. 19, students are invited to take a road trip with the club and department to tour the FIVE N TWO Grill & Pantry. The tour will include lunch at the grill and an opportunity to participate in a service project. Departure from campus is 10 a.m., with arrival back to campus set for 1 p.m. Email [email protected]/* */ to sign up for the road trip.
The full schedule of Hunger & Homelessness Week follows.
Hunger & Homeless Week Schedule
Monday, Nov. 17-Friday, Nov. 21
Canned Food Drive
Place canned foods in bins throughout the week at the Oasis. The canned foods will support the FIVE N TWO’s pantry, a nonprofit addressing hunger in Western Harnett County.
Monday, Nov. 17
SNAP (Food Stamps) Challenge, Marshbanks, 7 a.m.-8 p.m.
Get an idea of what people who receive SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) eat.
Tuesday, Nov. 18
Screening of “Something You Can Call Home”, Turner Auditorium, 1:30 p.m.
Reception with director of “Something You Can Call Home,” Wiggins Memorial Library Room 224, 3 p.m.
In this documentary, filmmaker Rebecca Kenyon follows homeless people in Wilmington, North Carolina, which include a former marine and a young impersonator.
Wednesday, Nov. 19
Road trip to Five N Two Grill & Pantry, Cameron, N.C., 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Tour the nonprofit restaurant and pantry that’s working to address hunger in Western Hrnett County. The tour includes lunch and a service project. Email [email protected]/* */ to reserve a spot on the bus.
Wednesday, Nov. 19-Thursday, Nov. 20
Box-a-Thon Sleepout, Academic Circle, 9 p.m. to 7 a.m.
Bring your own box, and spend the night in someone’s else shoes on the Academic Circle. Donuts and coffee will be provided at 11 p.m.
Thursday, Nov. 20
“What’s for dinner? An American version of the Hunger Banquet,” Rumely Center, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
It’s Campbell’s 3rd annual Hunter Banquet, where students will receive randomly-drawn tickets that designate their socioeconomic statuses to determine the meal they’re served based on the current eating spectrum in the U.S. Email [email protected]/* */ to RSVP. Cost is $5 or 3 cans of food.
Friday, Nov. 21
Screening of the film “The Soloist,” Turner Auditorium, 9 p.m.