17 Jul National Hunger & Homelessness Awareness Week 2015!

This week is National Hunger & Homelessness Awareness Week (NHHAW), an annually recognized week during which members of communities across the nation join together as advocates participating in a social movement to resolve the root causes of homelessness and hunger.

A  number of  American higher education institutions recognize NHHAW through implementing high impact events on campus in an effort to bring awareness to the challenges that, not only do our neighbors in the community face, but also the same challenges that our very own students face, as a result of homelessness, hunger, and/or food insecurity.

As a proud, active food bank/pantry on your campus that is focused on alleviating food insecurity, hunger, and poverty, it is strongly suggested to support the national social activism movement that NHHAW represents through hosting intentional activities throughout this week, annually, in the following recommended ways:

– Serve as a host for Oxfam America Hunger Banquet to interactively bring the campus community’s attention to how, by luck of the draw, some individuals are born into prosperity and others into poverty. Resources and tool kit to host the event provided by Oxfam America: http://www.oxfamamerica.org/take-action/events/hunger-banquet/

– Plan and execute a panelist event for audience members to understand the challenges associated with individuals facing chronic hunger or food insecurity or those who transitioned out of the cycle of poverty.

– Wide spread, large scale campus community donation initiative in which the pantry/bank requests specific items in need to stock the facility and intensively markets where donation boxes will be place throughout campus for the entire week.

The fight against hunger needs to be ongoing, no doubt; however, intentionally participating in NHHAW educates the masses to join our social movement to alleviate hunger and food insecurity!

Originally published by Sonal Chauhan November 19, 2015