OPIRG Thanks Fasters

To the Editors:

Would you believe that according to the United States Department of Agriculture more than 1.2 million people in Ohio are hungry or at risk of hunger every day? Would you be more willing to believe that there are an average of almost four thousand homeless individuals in Cleveland every night? Instead of simply accepting these facts, at the end of last semester Ohio PIRG’s Campaign Against Hunger and Homelessness organized a fundraising event called a “Hunger Fast” as a means of addressing such local hunger and homelessness problems. One of several events during Hunger Awareness Week, the Hunger Fast asked students to donate their CDS meals for Friday, Dec. 7 so that the cost of these meals could in turn be donated to a group working locally to prevent hunger and homelessness in Ohio. The Hunger Fast was a strong success, and over a thousand dollars was raised.
We want to thank all the students who participated in the Hunger Fast and helped to contribute funds to a local organization that is in dire need of financial assistance. By a slim margin, participating students voted to donate the funds to the North East Ohio Coalition for the Homeless. NEOCH consists of homeless and formerly homeless people, organizations (public, private, and non-profit), and individuals. The mission of NEOCH is to organize and empower homeless and at-risk men, women and children through public education, advocacy and the promotion of nurturing environments. They have organized to improve the shelter conditions in Northeastern Ohio and advocated for temporary and day laborers. The funds raised will soon have been processed and transferred to NEOCH.
Ohio PIRG’s Campaign Against Hunger and Homelessness wishes to sincerely thank those who participated in the Hunger Fast for their generosity and encourage all Oberlin students to become involved in Hunger and Homelessness advocacy issues. Any interested students are encouraged to come to the weekly meeting of Ohio PIRG’s Campaign Against Hunger and Homelessness every Thursday at 8 p.m.

–Andrew Zilm
College first-year
Co-coordinator
Ohio PIRG’s Campaign Against Hunger and Homelessness

March 15
April 5

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