Hunger Awareness Week & the HOPE for Cleveland experience

Mass with a social justice theme on Friday afternoon (Mar 11) and a cleanup of "JCU Shantytown" culminated Campus Ministry's "Hunger Awareness Week" in which a series of speakers and events brought home the reality faced daily by the poor and homeless. On Thursday night Bryan Mauk '08 (l to r in picture at right), Brendan McLaughlin '08 and grad students Jodie Bowers and Joe Adair along with more than 25 other JCU students had endured the snow and freezing temperatures in their makeshift cardboard-and-plastic enclosures.

"We made the choice to sleep in the elements for one evening," said Bowers. "But the poor have no choices and must endure the chilly weather every evening." The sleepout was part of the "HOPE for Cleveland " (Homeless Outreach Participation & Empowerment) immersion experience which also included visits to several homeless shelters on Friday where students waited in breadlines to eat.

"It's easy to think of the poor when you eat and sleep like they do," Bowers said after Mass as he thanked Campus Ministry staff members and everyone who supported the effort. "Our challenge is to remember them in our own lives each and every day."

Click each image below to enlarge (Photos courtesy of Jodie Bowers)

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