Students Step Into the Shoes of the poor for a Good Cause
May 19, 2009 • written by Samantha Hartfiel
Several weeks ago, students of Park High School may have noticed some of their peers sitting on the floor of the cafeteria with desolate faces and wearing grubby clothes. They held signs stating facts such as “Some families have to live off 5 cents a day”, while sitting beside an open guitar case. Passersby dropped their loose change into the container, making the scene appear even more as if there were beggars on a street. However, while the teens may have looked like poor peddlers, they were in fact members of the Park High School student body who are a part of a club called New Global Citizens. This club, which meets every Thursday morning, consists of group of students dedicated to making the world a better place. Acting homeless was one of the several activities that made up Poverty Week, which was a weeklong fundraiser in order to raise money for the club’s project of the year, building a woman’s shelter in Nepal. Poverty Week also featured a poverty chance game and ended with a Hunger Banquet. The fundraider raised about $250 for the shelter, making the week a small success.
Emily Evans, who will take over as president of the club for the 2009- 2010 school year says that she found the week to be adequately successful. However, she admits she was surprised at how little was made overall. “Only about 10 people showed up to the Hunger Banquet,” Evans spills sadly, “and that is supposed to be the big fundraiser of the year.” The Hunger Banquet, which took place on a Thursday night, was a public fundraiser where people, after paying the suggested $5 donation, were split into one of three groups. The first group was the “rich” group, which was allowed to drink water and was served unlimited rice with utensils. The second group was the “middle class” group that was served rice and water, but had smaller amount and had plastic utensils. Finally, the “poor” group members had to sit on the floor and eat their miniscule amount of rice with their hands. Evans believes that the banquet was not a huge success because people were not informed enough in advance that it was taking place. “The only time the banquet was announced was the morning of the event,” Evans states, “Next year, I will definitely advertise it more.”
However, while the banquet may have been a little disappointing, Evans says that the homeless person act was so successful that it was extended to two days instead of the scheduled one. Over the two lunch periods, the club raised just under $200. “I’ll admit that I was a bit embarrassed at first” Evans confesses when asked about impersonating a homeless person, “but I knew that it was for a good cause so I did not care as much after a while.”
New Global Citizens will continue raising money throughout next year, and Evans is hoping to raise more awareness next year as president. “I’m planning on raising more money next year and inform people about the issues taking place in today’s world.”
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