On Centre: Centre Region

Penn Staters take on homelessness

Stephanie Koons

In Happy Valley, it can be easy to forget that not everyone is blessed with health and prosperity. According to the National Coalition for the Homeless, there are an estimated 3.5 million homeless people in the U.S. In addition, about 1.2 million Pennsylvanians, almost 10 percent of the state's population, live in households at risk for hunger.

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To raise awareness of those issues in the community, Penn State will participate in National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week Nov. 9-13.

This is the second year that Penn State is getting involved, said Beth Bradley, assistant director of the Center for Ethics and Religious Affairs at Penn State. The activities are sponsored by the Center for Ethics and Religious Affairs, Center for Women Students, Union and Student Activities, Residence Life, University Park Allocations Committee, the Food Bank of State College and Oxfam at Penn State. Admission to all events will be granted with a donation of a nonperishable food item.

With the current state of the economy, Bradley said, more people are finding themselves without food and shelter, and some of them are Penn State students. She works at the Pasquerilla Spiritual Center, she added, and when the building closes for the night, students who have nowhere else to go are sometimes asked to leave.

Homelessness “is not really a visible thing on campus, but it exists,” Bradley said.

The week’s activities will kick off with Open Mic Night from 7 to 9 p.m. Nov. 9 at Webster’s Bookstore Cafe. Students and community members will raise awareness about hunger and homelessness through performances, song, poetry, video and art.

Also on Nov. 9, the Interactive Exhibit on Hunger and Homelessness will be held on the first floor of the HUB-Robeson Center. Student organizations that work with social justice issues will offer displays highlighting the issues and providing ways for interested people to take action.

The Hunger Banquet, at 6 p.m. Nov. 10 in Heritage Hall in the HUB-Robeson Center, “really hones in on the unequal distribution of food in the world,” Bradley said.

During the banquet, participants will be divided into three social classes — upper, middle and lower. They will be served accordingly, with the upper class getting a full-course meal while the lower class is forced to sit on the floor with no utensils.

“It’s a pretty intense experience,” Bradley said.

The final event will be the Faces of Homeless Panel at 7 p.m. Nov. 12 at the Pasquerilla Spiritual Center. Three speakers from Washington, D.C., will provide perspectives and stories to give the audience a personal connection to the statistics on poverty.

For more information, contact servicelearning@sa.psu.edu or call 863-4624.

In related news, the State College Area Food Bank recently had its grocery gift card program cut. Staff members and volunteers are requesting donations of grocery store gift certificates and cards so that they can shop for items that haven’t been donated.

For more information, call the food bank at 234-2310 or visit www.foodbank.centreconnect.org.

Stephanie Koons writes a weekly column featuring news and happenings in the Centre Region. Send comments and suggestions to her at skoons@centredaily.com.