Catholic group takes on poverty
Posted on February 25, 2008
Living in a box and starving are not typical college experiences, but the Catholic Campus Ministry wants students to recognize these and other social justice issues.
Beginning March 10, CCM will sponsor four events, including Gov. Tim Kaine’s speech on “Faith in Politics” on Monday and a hunger banquet and a Box-a-Thon focusing on hunger and homelessness on Tuesday. The activities will conclude with a refugee awareness evening on Wednesday.
“We’re focusing on social justice,” said Megan Sorg, director and minister for CCM. “The Catholic Church teaches this idea, but a lot of people, whether Catholic or non-Catholic, have an interest in these issues.”
Though the week coincides with JMU’s Centennial Week, Sorg and the other coordinators are hoping for campus-wide involvement and interest.
Junior Jen Hoyle, assistant student campus minister, said that with the Catholic population on campus it is important to teach others about these issues.
“We’re hoping with how big Alternative Spring Break trips are, people will want to learn how to give back to their own community, and will return after Spring Break looking for another way to continue helping others,” Hoyle said. She later added, “With about 6,000 Catholics on campus, it’s really cool to step up and do something for JMU and Harrisonburg.”
Senior Andrew Waring, a student campus minister, said that CCM’s leadership council has been brainstorming ideas and planning since last year. By starting early, they were able to request Kaine’s visit in October and base the remaining events around the date.
“We wanted to get a prominent figure to come speak, and we figured that he was one who had actual experience in social justice,” Waring said. “He is planning on speaking about faith in politics. He will touch a little on social justice and his experience in it, but a lot of it will be about how he is able to live out his faith as a political figure and the things that come with that.”
Hoyle said there are many issues in Harrisonburg that students are not aware of. She said that the city is classified as inner city based on the number of single mothers, large families living below the poverty line and languages spoken in schools.
“Not many students really know what’s going on in our community,” Hoyle said. “We’re in the JMU bubble. But there are tons of food pantries throughout Harrisonburg. For a community that’s not really that big, everyday someone can go get free food somewhere. I know it’s not like that where I’m from.”
During the hunger banquet, students can experience what people throughout the world eat each day. The group will use statistics to determine the portions and types of food served. While maybe two people in a room of 100 would be served pizza, 50 would have rice-based meals, she said. There will also be a guest speaker from Mercy House.
“At the hunger banquet, everyone receives different rations of food showing the proportions in the world,” Hoyle said. “You can go in with someone, and leave feeling very different because you’re nourished differently than anyone else with your amount of food.”
Following the banquet, the Box-a-Thon will be held in Godwin Hall. Each participant will receive a box, or a piece of a box, and will construct a shelter to “live” in. Groups will perform short pieces related to the issue of homelessness, and there will be other informative slideshows.
“If you’re homeless, you’re not going to find a perfect refrigerator box behind a building,” Hoyle said.
The final event is about refugees, including viewing a relevant documentary and a panel discussion. There will be three guests from the Refugee Resettlement Center.
One speaker is a refugee from Eastern Europe and the other two work with refugee families in Harrisonburg.
White said, “There are a significant number of refugees here, from Eastern Europe, the Middle East, especially Kurds, and Africa.”
