 "Photo: Joshua Doby for The Hilltop")
 "Photo: Joshua Doby for The Hilltop")
For the Mars Hill campus and community, the second week of April was one of education and promotion about hunger issues on the local, national and global levels. Hunger Week raised money for non-profit organizations that feed people who cannot afford to feed themselves and their families.
The week started with a documentary showing of "Super Size Me," a film about the extreme lack of nutrition in fast food chains.
Morgan Spurlock, the director, producer, writer and star of the show, lived off of only McDonald’s food for 30 days. He experienced physical and psychological dysfunctions, and following the documentary, there was a discussion about the consequences of unhealthy eating and the corporations that promulgate eating for profit.
On Tuesday, the week continued with the annual Oxford Hunger Banquet. Amanda Thomas, assistant director of Homeward Bound, an organization that seeks to end homelessness in Asheville, spoke about the job of trying to feed and help the people in the region.
Kristina Rathburn, the MHC student organizer of Hunger Week, said she learned an enormous amount about the severe hunger problems of western North Carolina in preparing events for the week and especially on the night of the banquet.
"Fifty-nine percent of kids in Madison County schools receive free or reduced lunches because their families are at or below poverty levels," Rathburn said.
The winter did not help reduce local hunger issues because snow days left kids who receive free or reduced breakfasts and lunches without two meals every day when school was cancelled, Rathburn explained.
Also at the banquet, attendees participated in a demonstration of hunger throughout the world. People were split up into different groups and given different amounts of food, based on which group, or economic class, they were assigned. Out of 32people, 20 of those participants represented the low-income group of the world.
This group also symbolized most of the world's population, those who live in Third World countries like Honduras, India and Somalia. People do not get the food they need daily because of their income, and often times, when they have the money to eat, they must travel to buy it.
"The average person in the world walks six miles to get food," Rathburn commented.
Also on Tuesday, MHC's Business Honor Club joined with the Hunger Week committee to collect canned food donations at the annual Food for Fashion Show. Neighbors in Need, an organization that provides food and funds to people in poverty, received the donations.
The largest fundraiser of the week was the Empty Bowls Dinner at Mars Hill Baptist Church. Rathburn and the MHC LifeWorks staff headed up the event, where people paid $10 for a meal of soap, salad, drink and dessert along with a handmade pottery bowl. The bowls were crafted by Rick Morgan, a local potter, and Jane Renfroe's Pottery II class.
The extended Mars Hill community showed support in a variety of ways for the Empty Bowls fundraiser. Over 200 people bought tickets for the event, and all of the proceeds, $1,825, were given to Neighbors in Need.
Chartwells, Madison Family Farms and The Wagon Wheel donated the soup, the lettuce and the salad dressing, respectively, that was served. Additionally, TJ's produce and Ingles offered reduced rates on the tomatoes and cucumbers.
Kari Loomis hosted Catherine Walker from Madison Family Farms in her food course. Walker discussed agriculture and how important sustainability is to its survival.
An "Open Mic Night" was also held as a time to "break the fast" for all of those who donated meals toward MANNA Food Bank. Over 200 students donated one of their meals from their meal plans. That night, people met in Timberline to socialize, eat and sing.
The Hunger Week festivities ended on Saturday with the Crop Walk, in which participants walked three miles to symbolize the distance and time it takes most of the world to obtain food.
For Rathburn, the week was successful. Her service work will likely continue, as she feels that helping people is an integral part of who she is, she said.
"We are all here for a purpose," she said, "and I am here to help people."
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