Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week

This is the first email in the while, but it is for a great putpose! Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week was this past week, and the SVC did a great job working to increase advocacy and awareness of poverty and homelessness. Here are some of the events:

Monday

AMERICA'S PERMANENT EMERGENCY: CA REUNION AND A TALK THE WALK PANEL DISCUSSION ON HOMELESSNESS
Monday, November 17th, 5-6:30pm
Labyrinth Books, 122 Nassau Street, Lower Level

What's the reality of hunger and homelessness in America beyond the Orange Bubble? What are some of the myths about homelessness, and why do they persist? How can we do our part to end American poverty? We'll discuss these issues in a panel moderated by Hugh Price (Weinberg/Goldman Sachs Visiting Professor of Public and International Affairs at the Woodrow Wilson School and former President of the National Urban League).

Panelists:
Professor Patricia Fernandez-Kelly (Professor of Sociology and Chair of the Latin American Defense and Education Fund)
Lee Seglem (Author of In Plain Sight: the Story of Task, the book for CA 2008)
Lewa Somorin (M.H.S., Housing Coordinator, Homefront.)
Damaris Platt (Youth Advocate)

RELIGION, HUNGER AND HOMELESSNESS: AN INTERFAITH DIALOGUE
Monday, November 17th, 5:30-7pm
Murray-Dodge Café



Tuesday:

FEAST AND FAMINE: FOOD POLICY AND HUNGER IN AMERICA
Tuesday, November 18th 2008
Murray-Dodge Cafe

We live in a country of want: thirty-one million Americans now live in or on the edge of hunger. We live in a country of overabundance: any convenience store bursts with cheap highly-processed corn-based foods, from sodas to twinkies to chips. Come hear how America's food policy has gone wrong with representatives from community organizations that deal with different aspects of hunger.

Panelists:
Phyllis Stoolmacher (Director of Mercer Street Friends)
Russ Hansel (Director of Mount Carmel Guild)
Meredith Taylor (Senior Project Manager of Community Gardening and Nutrition at Isles)

Wednesday:

ORGANIZATION FAIR
Wednesday, November 19th, 1-4pm
Frist Campus Center

We'll be holding an open house for campus organizations that work with the issues of hunger and homelessness. Come learn what you can do to end hunger and homelessness today!

Also, the WHOLE CAMPUS was encouraged to wear GREEN to raise awareness for homelessness on Wednesday!

Friday:

TIGER TROT 5K

Do you like to run and want to fight against poverty? If so join the race, by participating in the first annual Tiger Trot a 5K Charity Walk/Run sponsored by Campus Recreation. Bring a non-perishable food item as an entry fee. Sign up on site!

BEYOND THE BUBBLE: CONFRONTING HUNGER AND HOMELESSNESS IN OUR OWN BACKYARD
Friday, November 21st, 8pm
Theatre Intime

Come see an original collection of monologues and scenes about hunger and homelessness written, directed and performed by Princeton students. The performance will student actors and a capella groups, so come see your friends and support a great cause!

This was an absolutely amazing job by the Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Committee!! Congrats to everyone involved!!!

ONE Commercials

So today me, Swati, Kevin, and Amanda got together and shot a couple of commercials for ONE! They were pretty hilarious, if I do say so myself. Both involve the art of music. Though I guess deeming this "music" is kind of an insult to music itself...

Also, Rose showed me a shirt design that she did which was AWESOME! I was so impressed!! And we're hopefully gonna get a couple of other pretty cool ones in the mix as well....stay tuned.

NEW NEWS

So yesterday was the big vice-presidential debate. One of the big things that the candidates really don't ever seem to address is the issue of poverty, though I have to say, I was impressed by the way that Biden has worked to stop genocides in Bosnia and Darfur. That was some good stuff. The Campus Challenge is also underway, so our Committee is taking care of that. Coming up with some pretty cool stuff, such as getting the marching band to spell ONE at a future football game and getting a congressman to wear a ONE shirt! Pretty awesome...

Also, my letter to the editor got published in the Princeton Packet! Pretty sick if you ask me. Scratch that - very sick. Stay tuned for more new news.

Meetings, potential ONE rap?

Yo. So yesterday we had a ONE meeting that was productive. We discussed the progress we're making on Lose the Shoes and ONE Vote, and scheduled the ONE Campus Challenge meeting for today. We've really got to start taking pictures though, so we can get credit for having these meetings!

Also, I'm pretty psyched about the weekly challenge, which is designing a t-shirt....we've got some people that are SICK at that kind of stuff on campus, so if we get them to contribute, we'll be in business.

Be expecting another post concerning the meeting today and what we discussed. Also, if I have time I'm going to produce a ONE rap. Not kidding. Keep checking in, tell your friends!

My activities lately for ONE...

So we've been hammering out more details for LOSE THE SHOES, the barefoot 3v3 soccer tournament that's going to be taken place to raise money for HIV/AIDS awareness in Africa. It's going well, but we have a lot of work to do before October 19, when the even takes place. Additionally, I've been entering points into our campus site so we can get all of the ones that we deserve.

A really cool event took place over the weekend, Princeton's 5000 for 5000, which raised money for a microfinance foundation that helps people in very poor villages obtain loans who might not otherwise be able to. Check out this link to our campus newspaper to find out more: http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/2008/09/29/21565/.

Alright friends, that's it for now. Stay tuned.

My letter to the editor...

I would like to raise an important consideration in the upcoming
presidential election. While it is readily evident that our country's
economy is struggling and we are still dealing with an ongoing
military standoff abroad, the United States (as well as the rest of
the world) cannot afford to forget the issue of global poverty.
Though our problems may be substantial, they are truly nothing
compared to those who are dealing with genocides, who wake up hungry
every day, or babies born with HIV. Indeed, it is increasingly
apparent that the issue of poverty, in both the United States and
abroad, is an issue which demands our immediate attention.

One bill in particular which could immediately have a positive effect
on the world is that of PEPFAR, which allows people in sub-Saharan
Africa to obtain HIV/AIDS treatment when they otherwise would not.
PEPFAR has positively affected more than 1.4 million people in the
region, and represents an emerging American legacy of compassion and
hope through lifesaving medicine. However, now PEPFAR's time has run
out and Congress is considering reauthorizing and expanding the
program. Such legislation would authorize $50 billion to combat
HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis over the next five years, prevent
12 million new HIV infections, and provide care for five million AIDS
orphans.

People should consider the candidates' stances on such issues, and
interact with their legislators to let them know their support of the
fight against global poverty. Organizations such as the ONE Campaign
are a great source of awareness which allow individuals to observe the
political positions of candidates on such issues. The fight against
poverty is raging, and we must prevail.

The first day of Princeton's campus ONE blog!

So today I started this blog. Hopefully there will be a lot of cool stuff that I can put in here - the point of it is to keep track of the different ONE activities on campus.

The biggest thing is that I'm entering in our campus points for today, and also going door to door to the different restaurants in the area to collect money for LOSE THE SHOES, a 3v3 barefoot soccer tournament to increase HIV/AIDS awareness. More to come soon....