DURHAM, N.C. – In keeping with its tradition of truth and service, North Carolina Central University will observe Hunger Awareness Week, March 16–21, with a series of events designed to draw attention to hunger and food insufficiency right here in North Carolina. Students will have opportunities to support local hunger-fighting agencies through the Durham CROP Walk.
“The NCCU community will consider what hunger means on a comprehensive level and what our responsibility is,” said Deborah Bailey, director, Academic Community Service Learning Program, and organizer of the event.
On Tuesday, March 16, students will take part in a human art installation titled “Flash Freeze for Hunger.” They also will hear from individuals and experts in a panel discussion and tour local agencies that fight hunger, including Urban Ministries of Durham, the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina and South Eastern Efforts Developing Sustainable Spaces (SEEDS).
Hunger, Bailey said, has many faces. “We usually think of the homeless, but now it’s the person who lost their job six months ago or the single mother who is just one paycheck away from losing everything,” she said. Even NCCU students who may rely on the meal plan for a balanced diet may face challenges when they go home for the summer.
“Hunger is not just about not having food,” Bailey noted. “It is also about not having enough or the right food. If you have to rely on what the convenience store sells because there is no market in your neighborhood, that is food insufficiency. That is hunger.”
Hunger awareness will also be infused into the classroom through a hunger curriculum Bailey and her office will provide to faculty. “There is not a discipline on campus that hunger does not impact,” she said. “We all need to be talking about this.”
Staff can also participate in a week-long food drive. All foods collected will be passed along to students at the N.C. School of Science and Math; they will be attempting to set a world record for the most food collected in a single day at a single location by a non-charitable organization.
The week will conclude Sunday, March 21, with NCCU’s participation in the Durham CROP Walk. Decked out in the university’s maroon and grey colors, 100 volunteers — one for each year NCCU has existed — will represent the university. Giving to the community has long been part of the NCCU experience. Each student is required to complete at least 15 hours of community service each semester. Last month, the NCCU community raised $10,000 in support of the Haiti relief efforts. The money was donated to the U.N. World Food Programme and the Clinton-Bush Haiti Fund. NCCU also has an ongoing relationship with Habitat for Humanity of Durham, completing two Eagle Habitat Homes.
North Carolina Central University is the first publicly supported liberal arts college for African-Americans and this year, U.S. News & World Report ranked NCCU among the top ten HBCUs in the country. As NCCU celebrates its Centennial Year, a diverse student body of more than 8,500 students is enrolled in programs such as law, business, library science, nursing, education, and biotechnology.
MYRA WOOTEN
(919) 530-7219
