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 PIRGs 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 PIRGs 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 PIRGs
Campaign Against Hunger and Homelessness every Thursday at 8 p.m.
Andrew
Zilm
College first-year
Co-coordinator
Ohio PIRGs Campaign Against Hunger and Homelessness
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