The Week of Hunger and Homelessness Awareness kicked off Sunday night with a special Coffeehouse event. The weeklong, national event aims to increase education and awareness about hunger and homelessness. Held in the Sandbar, the event, which offered Convocation credit, drew a large crowd. Attendees were given nothing but cardboard boxes to sit on as they listened to the hour-long coffeehouse.
The night was filled with beautiful, inspirational music. Senior Dana Cargioli started off the show, showing off both her voice and her skills on the ukulele. Next, senior Christian Babikian took the stage to perform energetic renditions of “Ho Hey” and “With a Little Help from My Friends,” inviting the crowd to sing along on the latter.
Accompanied by piano, Liz Rodriguez performed a trio of songs, including Michael Jackson’s classic “Man in the Mirror” and Christina Aguilera’s hit “Beautiful.” Freshman Hunter Havins closed out the musical portion of the show with two heartfelt pieces on which he both sang and played guitar.
While music featured prominently, other performance art was offered as well. Junior Demi McCoy shared three personal poems during the evening. The first, called “The Drought,” painted a vivid picture of the drought in Africa. The second, called “Agape” (which is Greek for “love”) explored the concept of true love for humanity as opposed to romantic love. Her final poem, called “Trust in God,” was a personal testimony piece about an encounter with a homeless man. Each of the poems was fitting for the theme and was delivered with powerful conviction.
Representing Pepperdine’s International Justice Mission, junior Daniel Mattox read a scripture from the Book of James and gave a brief interpretation of the verses, urging the crowd to remember that God has promised his kingdom to the poor, reminding everyone not to mistreat them but instead love each other as much as we love ourselves.
In between songs, poems and scripture readings, various facts and statistics about homelessness and hunger were shared. For example, 700,000 to 2 million people in America are homeless. Of this number, 39 percent are under 18, and roughly 2/3 struggle with alcoholism, drug addiction or similar problems. In LA specifically, 82,000 people on any given night are homeless. Shockingly, 32 percent of these people hold a bachelor’s degree or higher.
The statistics on hunger were equally distressing. Many families around the world live on less than $1.25 to pay for food each day – which, as the speaker pointed out, is almost equivalent to the cost of one bottle of water on campus. Every day 925 million people around the world go hungry and, as a result of this hunger, one child dies of starvation every five seconds.
The audience was also educated on a couple of important non-profits who are giving aid to the hungry and the homeless in our own country. Both organizations are in the LA area, and could use help in the form of volunteering or monetary donations. Invisible People was started by the formerly homeless Mark Horvath, who felt that more attention needed to be brought to the people who often feel invisible to the rest of the world. Launched in 2008, the organization makes excellent use of social media to spread its mission. More information can be found at their website, www.invisiblepeople.tv.
The Los Angeles Dream Center, founded in 1994, helps 50,000 individuals and families every month, providing community outreach in a number of ways. They give medical care, job skills training, transitional shelter, basic education, rehabilitation programs and more. In fact, Horvath once went to the Dream Center for help in overcoming his own drug addiction and starting a better life. More information on the Dream Center and how students can get involved is located on their site, www.dreamcenter.org.
The night closed with representatives from the Pepperdine Volunteer Center explaining events planned for the rest of the week, including a hunger banquet on Monday and a hunger and homelessness fair on Wednesday. Students were invited to attend the events and also participate in a few ways. One way is to join the annual bed fast, which takes place in Adamson Plaza. It does not attempt to simulate homelessness, but merely aims to raise awareness about it and provide a humbling experience for students who participate.
Another suggested way to help was to donate to the Red Cross. In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, which left thousands along the East Coast devastated and without food, the Red Cross launched a texting campaign. By merely texting REDCROSS to 90999, people can donate $10 to help with their relief efforts.
The Coffeehouse was successful in combining music, education and faith to call attention to important issues. The night not only gave inspiration to attendees, but also provided the information they needed to help make a difference.
