Week 12- How my project is coming along-

My project is progressing as planned. Flyers have been prepared and boxes have been covered and placed around the school where Xavier students can donate food for the hungry. Our appointment at Second Harvesters Food Bank has been booked and confirmed. Second Harvesters Food Bank is probably one of the most recognized and popular food banks in New Orleans. Food is collected and donated by individual, groups, and some stores. The food is sorted by category. The expiration date of the food is checked. Expired food is discarded and good food is placed in holding. Bags of food with a variety of food categories are prepared which will later be distributed to the community. I was very pleased this weekend when I went grocery shopping with my mother that Rouses is also advertising a food drive. They also have banners and food barrels where food can be purchased and put in the containers or food can be brought from home to put into the containers. I shared with one of the managers that I was also part of a group at Xavier University that was educating Xavier about the hunger problem in our community. I told him that we were also collecting food and donating that food to the Second Harvesters Food Bank when we donate our time to prepare bags of food for the homeless. He was pleased that students our age would recognize the problem that our community, our city, our state, our nation, and our world is experiencing. He was proud that Xavier was participating in the cause. Our banners are posted, our boxes are located around campus, and we plan to collect the can goods every day. We will sort our food in the same manner that Second Harvesters does and then bring the food to their food bank on our volunteer day. I really feel happy that we are making a difference.

The flyers say “Xavier Cares”. They also detail some of the statistics about hunger. We do not want to just ask for food. We want to educate our school and hopefully our community about the severity of the hunger problem. We want our fellow classmates to recognize the problem and get involved because they realize that there are many people less fortunate then themselves.

Project Plan

1- Draw attention and educate people about the hunger problem worldwide.

This is why the “Stop Sign” was used to ask people to stop and read about our mission.

2- The boxes were covered with red paper and include a few large stop signs that say: “STOP HUNGER”. A copy of our flyer which includes hunger statistics is also taped to the boxes. To drawer further attention and ask for donations, brown bags with the “Stop Hunger” logo are available in a pocket attached to the box. Hopefully students will take home a bag and bring back a few can goods as a donation to the cause.

3- The boxes have been successful because we have already collected some food.

4- Community help and awareness: Becoming involved in the community is equally as important as bring can goods. We have scheduled a day at Second Harvesters Food Bank to bring our collected food and also more importantly to experience the need for this food. The food collected by Second Harvesters Food Bank is not gourmet. The people in need of food are not looking for Applebee’s or McDonalds, they are looking for food to survive and this is exactly what Second Harvesters provides. Volunteering at a food bank like this gives you a real reality check. It makes you thank God everyday and appreciate the food and things that we take for granted.

Attached are pictures that I prepared of the events of our project. This project has shown me the extent of the hunger problem worldwide. It has educated me and shocked me by the statistics of hunger. Overall, it has been a very rewarding experience for me.

“Xavier Cares- Stop Hunger”

How was Jesus counter cultural? Jesus lived during a time when women were definitely not equal to men. Women were not able to vote and were not able to participate in worship. They had defined roles as mothers and wives. Jesus did not see women that way. His views were definitely in opposition to the standard during that time. Jesus observed women as equals to men. Jesus encouraged women to come to worship. In the Gospel there are many examples where Jesus treated women directly contrary to the tradition of that time. During one mass, Jesus saw crippled women. He stopped his worship and particularly called out to this woman. He called out to the woman to come sit in the men’s section of the church. This was totally unheard of during this time. He put his hand on the woman in efforts to cure her. This action showed that Jesus felt that women were just as important as men. Jesus also interacted with prostitutes and many people that were thought to be subordinate. Jesus went against culture. He was counter cultural.

Is my project counter cultural? Yes, my project would be considered counter cultural. I am proposing social change. The definition of counter cultural is “an expression that communicates disagreement or opposition. Counter cultural means challenging the culture or particular elements of it. Protesting against a particular situation or issue is considered counter cultural. Since my project sends a message of disapproval that there are so many hungry people that are not getting assistance, I would be seen as an advocate for social change. The fact that myself and my group have expressed an action to “stop hunger”, have posted flyer around the school to “Stop Hunger”, and have placed boxes where food can be donated to the hungry people expresses disagreement and opposition of the social situation. I am a speaker who is asking to “Feed the Hungry”, “Stop Hunger”, to change this social situation. This is counter cultural.

This entry was posted on Monday, April 13th, 2009 at 7:40 pm and is filed under Week 12: Related Readings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.