St. Al's/St. Pat's Students Confront World Hunger Crisis

Across the globe, one in seven people go to bed hungry every night — a scenario difficult to imagine for most Lemont residents.

On Friday, however, students at learned firsthand the inequalities associated with food distribution worldwide.

The school's National Junior Honor Society, composed of 22 seventh-and eighth-grade students, hosted a Hunger Banquet developed by Oxfam America, an international relief and development organization that creates lasting solutions to poverty, hunger and injustice.

The Hunger Banquet is the signature event of Oxfam, and is designed to bring attention to poverty and hunger issues through first-hand experience and stories from around the world. On Friday, students in fourth through eighth grade learned about the inequalities among high-income, middle-income and poor families.

As students entered the school's cafeteria, they were given random slips of paper to determine their income levels. Groups were formed based on the latest statistics about the number of people living in poverty — 15 percent in the high-income tier, 35 percent in the middle-income and 50 percent in low-income.

"The idea was to get the students thinking about how unfair the world can be in terms of access to resources; giving them a real example gives them a sense of how the world is divided," said NJHS co-sponsor Raelyn Wall, who learned of Oxfam America through a fourth-grade teacher at St. Al's/St. Pat's.

Students in the high-income group were seated at a large table adorned with a table cloth and place settings. They were served large portions of salad, lasagna, bread and soda as most their classmates watched from the floor.

Those assigned to the middle-income group received moderate portions of rice, beans and water — all meant to symbolize a simple, low-cost meal.

The low-income group was forced to sit on the ground, and was only given small amounts of water and rice, which students had to scoop out of a large bowl using plastic cups.

As the low-and middle-income students ate the last of their rice, the high-income table was served large pieces of red velvet cake with scoops of vanilla ice cream.

NJHS members led the younger students in discussions following the meal.

"We are hoping our students are going to walk away from the Hunger Banquet with more awareness and compassion for the world around us," Wall said.

The Hunger Banquet was also led by seventh-grade teacher and NJHS co-sponsor Beth Burke, who urged students to think about the lack of equality and balance across the world's populations.

"The one thing I would like you to remember is this: Everyone on earth has the same basic needs; it is only our circumstances—where we live and the culture into which we are born—that differ," she said. "Some of us are born into relative prosperity and security, while millions—through no choice of our own—are born into poverty."

For more information on Oxfam America, visit www.oxfamamerica.org.