Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week is Nov. 15-21.

One week before Thanksgiving each year, the National Coalition for the Homeless and the National Student Campaign Against Hunger and Homelessness co-sponsor National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week to bring together numerous schools, communities and cities in a nationwide effort to raise awareness to the two social problems.

“Participating in National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week not only brings greater awareness to our community, but also helps to promote the national endeavor to end these two critical social issues,” said Kristen Mitchell, AmeriCorps VISTA and Misericordia Community Outreach Coordinator. “The plight of those without a home can be both lonely and difficult. By participating in this week, we hope to encourage a greater solidarity and understanding of the struggles many people face, and inspire our students to get involved in the future. Events such as the sleep out and hunger banquet, help people realize the difficulties that hungry and homeless people face daily.”

On Sunday, Nov. 15, the Misericordia University Dance Club and campus volunteers will participate in “Walk a Mile in Her Shoes,” a walk-a-thon for Ruth’s Place, a shelter for women in Wilkes-Barre. The walk is designed to represent the distances women in the area walk each day to reach the resources they need such as the local soup kitchen and food bank. The Dance Club is recruiting walkers and is fund-raising for this event. The walk will be held from 1-3 p.m. on Public Square in Wilkes-Barre.

Students involved with Campus Ministry at Misericordia University are hosting a simulated Hunger Banquet on Monday, Nov. 16 from 5 - 6 p.m. in Muth Room 217 of Sandy and Marlene Insalaco Hall. The public is invited to partake in the free event that is sponsored by Campus Ministry. The banquet will simulate different meal scenarios allowing participants to experience firsthand how food and resources are unevenly distributed throughout the world. Participants will draw a ticket at random when they enter. Some of the tickets will entitle them to a low-income meal of small portions of rice, pita and water. Other tickets will represent a middle-class meal of pasta, bread and iced tea. The remaining tickets will entitle the bearer to a higher-income meal complete with chicken, salad, pasta, vegetables, drinks and dessert. Participants will also be asked to read place cards at each seat that will exemplify various family situations and hunger issues in different countries, like the plight of a laborer in Ecuador who is raising a family of four on $5 a week. Reservations are required, and can be made by contacting Mitchell in the Campus Ministry Office at (570) 674-8041.

The Misericordia University Social Work Club is hosting photojournalist Gary F. Clark, who will present the talk, “The Face of Homelessness in Northeastern Pennsylvania,” on Tuesday, Nov. 17 at 6 p.m. in Huntzinger Room 218 of Insalaco Hall. Clark, a member of the NEPA Homeless Coalition, is a retired professor of art at Bloomsburg University where he taught computer art and drawing. His ongoing personal project — “Essential Humanity: Portraits of the Homeless’’ — can be viewed at his website http://www.fotolog.net/mashuga/.

Clark’s goal is to make a difference in the world through photography and art. He is known for his photos of the homeless and he will present a slideshow and narrative of experiences involving the homeless population in Wilkes-Barre and New York City. The program will include a panel of homeless men and women from the local area who will share their experiences with the audience in order to provide a more personal account of the impact of hunger and poverty in Northeastern Pennsylvania. The event is open free to the public.

On Wednesday, Nov. 18, Campus Ministry is sponsoring a 24-hour Hunger Fast and Sleep Out in an effort to show solidarity with those who go without food and shelter on a daily basis. The fast will begin with a prayer service at 4 p.m. in the offices of Campus Ministry in the Banks Student Life Center. The sleep-out will begin at 7 p.m. in the Wachovia Amphitheater at the center of campus. The fast will end with a Thanksgiving Ecumenical Prayer Service led by Father Donald J. Williams, campus chaplain, on Thursday, Nov. 19 at 4 p.m. in the Banks Center Dining Hall. The service will be followed by the annual Thanksgiving dinner.

Throughout the week, students will be collecting items for Sponsor a Family for Thanksgiving food baskets. Each year at Misericordia, different clubs, groups, and families provide a complete Thanksgiving meal to families in need from the Wilkes-Barre area. Last year about 33 baskets were organized and delivered the week before Thanksgiving.

The community is welcome to make donations to the baskets. Those interested are invited to contact Mitchell at 674-8041.

Caption:

Misericordia University students organizing and participating in events for Homelessness Awareness Week on Nov. 15-21, seated from left, are Marisa Cooper, Frackville, Pa.; Jen Lizier, Jessup, Md., and Christine Somers, director, Campus Ministry; kneeling, Veronica Nelson, Hazleton, Pa., Joe Frank, Kingston, Pa., and Kristen Kranenburg, Ridgewood, N.J.