By Dottie King
SMWC President
I recently participated in the Wabash Valley United Way Hunger Challenge. According to the rules of this challenge, participants needed to eat for one week only the food that could be purchased for $32. I knew that it would take some careful planning for each day and that I would miss some of the treats that I am accustomed to enjoying but I was not prepared for the depth of emotions that I experienced as the week unfolded.
Several members of the United Way Board and associated agencies participated in the challenge. On Monday morning of the first day, I began receiving e-mails from participants containing photos of the food that they purchased for the week.
Since I was purchasing my food one day at a time, I was very interested in the choices that were made by others. I chuckled aloud at the sight of one weekly allotment; it consisted of a case of water, two 2-liter bottles of Diet Mountain Dew, a loaf of bread, a jar of peanut butter, two packages of fruit cups and eight packets of tuna!
The ensuing emails that the group shared were a mixture of encouragement, light-hearted teasing and concern. As the week progressed the tone of the e-mails gradually became less trivial. Individually and as a group, we were changed by the experience. It is one thing to empathize with the circumstances of others and quite another to experience them.
“Food insecurity” is a term that is known to the agencies that provide food resources to needy families. It is a phrase that did not have very much real meaning for me until I experienced the Hunger Challenge. Planning to purchase food that would be nutritious and filling on a very limited budget was truly a challenge but the insecurity came from the worry about whether it would last for the entire seven days.
On day seven, we received a photograph from a participant depicting his remaining food supply. He had bread, peanut butter and one packet of tuna for the entire day. As we shared our experiences of hunger through the week, we found that we all experienced difficulty in sleeping at night and in concentrating during the day. We wondered how the parents of children in this situation feel knowing that their children, while not starving, are going to sleep every night without feeling full.
We were all eager for the week to end and discussed the things that we were going to eat on Monday; we were also fully cognizant that Monday never comes for some families. They live in a continuous state of food insecurity.
I am changed by my participation in the Hunger Challenge. I looked up the definition of the word “challenge” in a dictionary and found that it is a call or summons to engage in an activity. I like that and I would like to challenge the students, faculty and staff of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College to involve themselves in service to our community.
There are so many places where we can make a difference! Whether you choose a local church, Catholic Charities, Saint Ann’s Clinic, Big Brothers/Big Sisters or some other agency, I encourage you to find some time and do something to help others. It will benefit you far more than those whom you serve!
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