COLUMN: Hunger And Homelessness Awareness Week teaches to appreciate what one has
I owe a big “thank you” to a stranger who gave me a cup of hot cider and a piece of paper last Thursday morning for pointing out to me how selfish I am.
Even though I ate half a pizza the night before and could not fathom why I was hungry, I scarfed down a blueberry muffin on my way to work for breakfast.
“Would you like some hot apple cider?” a student asked as I walked by.
“Sure,” I said, with a bite of breakfast muffling my speech.
He then offered a piece of paper he put in my bag for me because my hands were full. I decided to sit down on a nearby picnic table.
I fished out the paper and read. “As you sip your beverage, take note of these facts about hunger and homelessness.”
It gave a melee of information that was not just bullet point statements, but real issues affecting people across the world.
In the time it took me to read the fact sheet, I realized at least two dozen people died of hunger, I spent more on the muffin than 3 billion people make in a day, and the phrases “absolute poverty” and “food insecurity” are bureaucratic terms lost on me.
I am removed from the neglect, suffering, starving and inevitable slow death of the 500 million people in the Asian, African and Latin American countries who live in desolate situations. Worldwide, malnutrition steals the life of more than half of all children; 12.5 percent of American children go to bed hungry.
The World Health Organization estimates two-thirds of the world’s population is either underfed or starving.
My mind reverted back to the article about the canned food drive organized by the CMU Volunteer Center and Minority Student Services last week, which I did not donate to. My memory conjured up images of Cardboard City and the posters tattooing the exteriors with facts that I never bothered to read.
My stomach was full of muffin and cider, but my self-worth felt starved. The student not only handed me a tangible gift of cider and a piece of paper, but he gave me insight into my self and inspired me to do more with the resources I have.
I marched into the Volunteer Center and donated canned goods today to help support Women’s Aid Services Inc.
Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week technically ended Saturday, but the issues and the facts still aggregate.
