By Greta Cuyler
The table was impeccably set.
Linens, china and stemware served as the backdrop to the main event -
plates filled with roast chicken, potatoes, vegetables and a giant
slice of pie for dessert.
But Alvernia University freshman Chidumebi Njoku-Browne couldn't eat.
Across the room more than a dozen schoolmates sat on the floor, sharing one large bowl of rice.
"I
want to enjoy my food, but I see people over there that are hungry and
I have lost my appetite," said Njoku-Browne, who is from Nigeria.
The university's "Hunger Banquet" on Tuesday night was a metaphor for
how food and other resources are distributed around the world,
university minister Daniel Flynn said.
Sponsored by Oxfam America, the event was part of Alvernia's Hunger & Homelessness Awareness Week, which began Saturday.
A random drawing determined what the student participants ate and
where: 15 percent, including Njoku-Browne, got the high-income meal
served at a table; 35 percent got a meal of rice and beans, chairs, but
no table; the remaining 50 percent sat on the floor and got small
portions of rice and water
The message wasn't lost on sophomore Jessica L. Hardinger of
Orwigsburg, Schuylkill County, who said the evening made her feel
guilty.
"As college students we come in here and swipe our cards and have three meals a day," she said. "Hunger doesn't happen here."
As the students ate they listened to Matthew Works, a Boston man who has been homeless for more than 13 years.
Works lost his job as a trucker, fell behind on his rent and was evicted.
He now travels around the country speaking at colleges and selling his art.
He described living on the streets as torture and said at least 20 homeless people he met on the streets are now dead.
"Being homeless in America is surreal because you're surrounded by wealth, privilege, even food," Works said.
