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Tuesday,
November 13, 2001
No
participation goals set for Hunger Week
Skiff
Staff
University Ministries’ Hunger Week Committee is sponsoring
events throughout the week to raise money and increase campus
awareness of world hunger, said Austin Dickson, Hunger Week
director.
Students,
faculty and staff can contribute toward the cause by donating
money from meal cards, attending a 24-hour prayer vigil or
volunteering at the Tarrant County Area Food Bank this week.
“Hunger
Week is a fund-raiser, a service program and an educational
opportunity ... geared toward opening people’s eyes,”
Dickson said.
Meal
card donations can be made every day this week in the Student
Center. Marriott, now Sodexho food services, matches student
contributions each year, he said.
Dickson
said donations and participation fluctuates every year, so
the committee did not set a goal for Hunger Week.
“In
years past we’ve gotten up to $22,000 and in other years
we’ve got $3,000. It all depends on world events and
how big an issue hunger is to the TCU community, the United
States and the world,” Dickson said.
Heather
Patriacca, a senior religion major and United Campus Ministries
president, said donations and participation have declined
in recent years.
“Ten
years ago, TCU raised $15,000 to $20,000 for Hunger week,
in the last few years, we struggled to raise $3,000 to $5,000,”
she said.
This
year, the committee hopes to make Hunger Week more service-oriented
by involving several campus organizations in a service project
at the food bank, Dickson said.
Kelly
Cowdery, Alpha Phi Omega Hunger Week service coordinator,
said campus organizations such as International Student Association
and APO will organize shifts going to the food bank and sorting
canned goods for storage and distribution to other food banks
and homeless shelters.
“Hunger
Week really forces the TCU community to think outside the
bubble and consider international issues,” said Cowdery,
a senior elementary education major.
“Hunger
is a problem all over the world, and we need to think about
people who are suffering outside Fort Worth, Texas and the
United States.”
University
Minister John Butler said anyone interested in volunteering
at the food bank Thursday from 1-9 p.m. can call University
Ministries at (817) 257-7830.
skiffletters@.tcu.edu
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