A food drive, poetry slam and hunger banquet are all part of GW’s annual Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week, which begins today.
The week’s activities, which for the first time include daily service opportunities, were planned by human services students in the course Human Services and Community: Empowerment for Social Change taught by Dean of Students Peter Konwerski, an adjunct professor in the GW Human Services Program in the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences.
“The students in my class who organize Hunger Week test a number of theories including Saul Alinsky’s principles of organizing, Alexis de Toqueville’s assessment of associations and Robert Putnam’s concept of community social capital,” said Dr. Konwerski. “I couldn’t be more proud of these students and their ability to apply theory to practice, using the events around hunger and homelessness to expand our campuses awareness of issues of poverty and inequality.”
The class was particularly inspired by a chapter in the book The Soul of Politics by Jim Wallis, said student Izzy Parilis. “The chapter, titled A Tale of Two Cities, focused on the inequality between the prosperous Washington most tourists see and the District of Columbia, where a large number of the city’s residents live and struggle,” she said.
“Through this week’s events, we set out to engage the GW community in learning about the systems that sustain poverty in this city,” said Ms. Parilis, who also serves as a Neighbors Project student coordinator for Hunger, Homelessness and Poverty in the GW Center for Civic Engagement and Public Service.
Highlights of the week include:
- Service opportunities each day with seven local nonprofits, including DC Central Kitchen, Food and Friends, N Street Village and Charlie’s Place.
- Poetry Slam featuring homeless artists from Street Sense, student performers and the youth group Project Create, held Monday night at 7:30 p.m. in the Marvin Center Amphitheater.
- Faces of Homelessness Panel by the National Coalition for the Homeless sponsored by Amnesty International and College Democrats Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. in Marvin Center 416.
- Hunger Banquet featuring GW Professor of History Chris Klemek, who recently authored an award-winning book, The Transatlantic Collapse of Urban Renewal. The banquet will be held Thursday in the Hippodrome from 7 to 9 p.m.
- Global Hunger Shabbat sponsored by GW Hillel and featuring an expert speaker on the famine in the horn of Africa, held Friday at 6:30 at GW Hillel.
- Help the Homeless Walkathon sponsored by Fannie Mae and held on the National Mall Saturday at 9 a.m. GW community members can meet beforehand in Kogan Plaza for a light breakfast at 7:30 a.m. Thrive DC, a nonprofit partner with the GW Center for Student Engagement and Public Service, working to prevent homelessness is the beneficiary students have chosen to support.
- Canned food drive held throughout the week with boxes for donation in residence halls and academic buildings across campus. Food collected will be donated to the Capital Area Foodbank.