In recognition of world hunger, the Community Service Board hosted the annual Oxfam Hunger Banquet in Forbes Dining Hall on Tuesday, November 16. At the banquet, students and faculty drew lottery tickets from a bucket that assigned them to either a high-, middle- or low-income tier. The number of tickets for each income level was based on the latest statistics about the number of people living in poverty. The ticket that each student or faculty received would indicate whether they would eat a regular meal, rice and gravy, or just a bowl of rice. The goal of the event was not only to raise awareness, but also, with money saved by not preparing the normal meals that day, raise funds for the Oxfam organization.
In addition to Tuesday’s event, 103 students pledged to eat lunches of only rice for the duration of the week. Wearing green Oxfam wristbands, participants vow to eat mindfully and carry on the Oxfam Banquet’s mission to spread a “greater understanding of the problems of hunger and poverty.”
