Org Hosts Events to Raise Hunger and Homelessness Awareness

POINT, a campus org, is hosting events this week to raise awareness and money for National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week.

POINT is a local chapter of a larger non-profit organization. Kayleigh Wideman, org president, said the organization exists to connect to charities and bring awareness to the needs of others. National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week, she said, presents an opportunity for the org to involve their fellow students in charity.

“It is an issue we often don’t think about enough,” she said. “There’s not that many homeless people who live in the town of Cedarville or who are visibly homeless or hungry. So being able to participate on a national level and build an awareness of things that are outside of the bubble, I think, is really important.”

The org is involved in several causes, Wideman said, and doesn’t focus on any one specific field. Wideman said this will be shown in the events they are hosting this week.

“On campus, we kind of reflect that,” she said. “We’re not committed to a single cause or a single charity, but we just do fundraisers and awareness events for multiple issues.”

In addition to raising awareness for hunger and homelessness this week, she said, POINT will be fundraising through Hunger Scans, an opportunity for students to donate Chuck’s scans for charity.

Wideman said she hopes the events this week will inspire students to get involved with the needs of people right around them.

“(My hope is) that students will just be more interested in how to just serve others who are in need and also just to give back a little, because we are so blessed here at Cedarville,” she said. “I don’t know a person on campus who doesn’t have a coat or a bed or food daily. Just to reflect on what we do have and use that as motivation to give back to people.”

POINT’s fundraisers for National Hunger and Homeless Awareness Week will be held in conjunction with Dine Out for Hunger, an annual fundraiser organized by Phi Alpha Honor Society and the social work department. A portion of the proceeds from participating restaurants during Dine Out for Hunger will go to Cedar Cliff Ministerial Association.

Below is a schedule of the fundraising events that will be held during this week.

• Monday: POINT will have a replica of a cardboard house set up in the SSC. Students will be challenged to take a picture of the house and post it to social media. The Dine Out for Hunger participants are Colonial Pizza (orders from the entire menu all day) and/or Chipotle in Xenia (orders will be eligible from 4-8 p.m. and participants must mention Dine Out for Hunger).
• Tuesday: A forum on local homelessness will feature Greg Dyson, director of intercultural leadership; Diane Graham, executive director of Habitat for Humanity; and additional faculty and staff. Stoney Creek and Neapolitan will be participating in Dine Out for Hunger (orders from the entire menu of both establishments will be eligible all day).
• Wednesday: Rinnova will be donating $1 from every order to the Society of St. Vincent de Paul in Dayton, a ministry that provides food, clothing and shelter to those in need. Orders from Main Street Station (the entire menu all day) and Mom and Dad’s (only deliveries from 5-11 p.m.) will be eligible for Dine Out for Hunger.
• Thursday: A prayer awareness event will be held in the BTS. Participants will move around stations, learning and praying about different aspects of poverty at each. Participants can order from the Corner Bakery (the entire menu from 6:30 a.m.-2 p.m.) and/or Beans-N-Cream (the entire menu from 12-7 p.m.).
• Friday: POINT will close their week-long events with a clothing drive. Students can bring gently used clothing to a table that will be set up in the lower SSC. Those who eat at Subway (the entire menu from 5-8 p.m.) and/or Mom and Dad’s (the entire menu from 8-11 p.m.) will be able to donate to Dine Out for Hunger.
• Saturday: The last fundraiser for National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week will be held at the Chick-Fil-A in Beavercreek (orders from the entire menu will be eligible all day and diners must mention Dine Out for Hunger).

Emily Finlay is a senior journalism major and campus news editor for Cedars. She loves writing, reading, making obscure references in normal conversation and every type of geekery.