The UNG Center for Student Engagement and Leadership launches their first Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Program. With November being Hunger and Homelessness Awareness month, CSEL is hosting the Oxfam Hunger Banquet.

Emily Harris, the assistant director of Leadership and Community Engagement and Center for Student Engagement and Leadership, says, “This is the first time we are doing this program and we are so excited!”

Starting in 1974, the Oxfam Hunger Banquet was created to raise awareness about the inequalities in economic systems. Oxfam America is an organization dedicated to ending poverty, hunger and social injustice. Oxfam America is a nonprofit organization that offers,  “lifesaving support in times of crisis and advocate[s] for economic justice, gender equality, and climate action.”

Their mission states, “We demand equal rights and equal treatment so that everyone can thrive, not just survive. The future is equal.”

Oxfam America has provided a toolkit for UNG to host its hunger banquet, which was designed to bring together people of different economic backgrounds. Its website says that over 950,000 people view poverty differently after attending.

Harris says, “Participants can expect an engaging and thought-provoking experience that encourages reflection and discussion about poverty, hunger and privilege.” Harris explains that each attendee will be seated randomly and given different dinners by chance so that the tables at the banquet will reflect each economic background. They state, “It’s designed to help participants experience firsthand how unequal access to resources affects people globally, and to inspire action toward a more just and sustainable world.”

This event is open to all UNG students, UNG faculty, UNG staff and the local community.

Dahlonega’s Oxfam Hunger Banquet will be held on Nov. 6 at 5 p.m. with the location to be determined. To RSVP click here.

Gainesville’s Oxfam Hunger Banquet will be held Nov. 17 at 4 p.m. in the Robinson Ballroom. To RSVP click here.