News Feature Story

A fleet of camouflage, army cargo trucks sit in a parking lot while men from the National Guard use forklifts to load supplies into the truck beds.

This isn’t a disaster-relief area or a war zone. This is the Zeppoz parking lot in Pullman and the supplies are non-perishable foods collected after last year’s Palouse Cares food drive.

The Palouse Cares food drive is one of several events that will cap off the National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week from Monday, Nov. 16 to Friday, Nov. 20.

“The whole week is to bring education to students who don’t realize how many homeless people there really are. It gives all of us new insight,” said Kelsey Parsons, a peer mentor for the Center for Civic Engagement.

The campaign aims to collect supplies for the homeless and to educate the public on issues of poverty and hunger in the United States.

Events throughout the week include a free musical and dance performance, four separate banquets, a community service project, a film, and the Palouse Cares food drive, said Parsons.

Funds collected from the National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week will go to local food banks.

The Palouse Cares food drive is one of the main events during the National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week.

The food drive has occurred on the first Saturday of every December for the past 15 years. Around 500 volunteers go door to door in neighborhoods throughout Pullman and Moscow to collect canned foods.

Last year the food drive collected about 28,000 pounds of food, said Rick Minard, president of Palouse Cares.

Though the Palouse Cares food drive takes place after the National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week it is still considered an event for the campaign.

“Being out there every year brings credibility and legitimacy to my charity,” Minard said. “If a volunteer gives me an hour of their time and we get the numbers we want, the drive is an instant success.”

The main goal for the National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week is to educate students at WSU about people in the community struggling to make enough money to feed their families, Parsons said.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the average income for Whitman County is well below the state’s average. In 2007, while the average income in Washington was $55,628, the average income for Whitman County was $36,438.

The difference in income hints at a poverty problem in Whitman County.

“This is a serious issue I’m dealing with 365 days a year,” said Jeff Tietjen, assistant manager of family development for the Community Action Center.

The Community Action Center serves more than 5,000 people who are living in poverty in Whitman County each year.

Tietjen said when he first started working for the Community Action Center seven years ago, the organization served around 70 families a month. However, the Community Action Center now serves 200 to 300 families a month.

Parsons hopes the education students experience from the National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week will breed action in the fight against poverty.

“When students learn about this, they are more likely to help and do good things for the community,” said Parsons.