(PDF) (DOC) (JPG)November 1, 2006

(Mahwah) – The Community Service Center of Ramapo College of New Jersey will observe Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week beginning November 12 with activities scheduled on and off campus.  Among them:

Sunday, November 12 – Students will work with Helping Hands to distribute supplies to the homeless and to bring issues impacting the homeless into the public eye.  As part of this project, students will help to assess the number of homeless individuals in Rockland County.

Wednesday, November 15 – The Oxfam Hunger Banquet will be held on campus from 2 – 4:30 p.m. and will include a simulation of the unequal distribution of the world’s resources.  Guests will receive a color-coded ticket delegating them to a particular socioeconomic rank, allowing them to re-enact the effect of global distribution.

Also on that day, beginning at 3 p.m. and continuing to Thursday, November 16 at 3 p.m., students will form a Box City.”  Using sleeping bags, blankets, newspapers and cardboard boxes, they will simulate being homeless and sleep outside around academic buildings and the Pine and Linen residences.  This event is designed to illustrate and educate the campus community on the life of homeless people.  It will be sponsored by Ramapo College’s Social Work Club.

Thursday, November 16 – Ramapo Community Organizing for Radical Empowerment (RCORE) will be hosting their fifth annual Vegan Thanksgiving beginning at 8 p.m.  This is a celebration of the changing season and an alternative to the conventional Thanksgiving dinner.  All the food served will be vegan and mainly organic, to expose students to natural foods and alternative health diets.  Vegan Thanksgiving also calls into question the history of Thanksgiving and highlights the theft of Native American lands committed by colonialists.  Members of the Ramapough Indian tribe will be RCORE’s special guests.  They will speak about the Ford Motor Company’s illegal dumping and the impact it has had on their community and the environment.

Saturday, November 18 – Participants will assemble more than 1,500 food baskets for families in need with the Northwest Center for Food Action between 8:45 a.m. and 5:15 p.m.

Tuesday, November 21 – The college community will assemble and contribute food baskets to low-income residents in Bergen County.  The baskets will be distributed by Meals on Wheels.

The student-managed Ramapo Community Service Center (CSC) promotes, facilitates and organizes community service by members of the Ramapo community, especially students within clubs and organizations.  The CSC strives to respond effectively to needs identified by community agencies by empowering and uniting the campus to effect social change through direct service.

National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week is observed each year one week before Thanksgiving.  The week is co-sponsored by the National Coalition for the Homeless and the National Student Campaign Against Hunger and Homelessness. During the week, a number of schools, communities and cities take part in a nationwide effort to bring greater awareness to the problems of hunger and homelessness.
For more information about any of these events, contact John Yao, service learning coordinator,
(201) 684 – 7223.

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About Ramapo College

Ramapo College of New Jersey is the state’s premier public liberal arts college and is committed to academic excellence through interdisciplinary and experiential learning, and international and intercultural understanding. The comprehensive college is situated among the beautiful Ramapo Mountains, is within commuting distance to New York City, was named one of the 50 Most Beautiful College Campuses in America by CondeNast Traveler, and boasts the best on-campus housing in New Jersey per Niche.com. Established in 1969, Ramapo College offers bachelor’s degrees in the arts, business, data science, humanities, social sciences and the sciences, as well as in professional studies, which include business, education, nursing and social work. In addition, the College offers courses leading to teacher certification at the elementary and secondary levels, and offers graduate programs leading to master’s degrees in Accounting, Applied Mathematics, Business Administration, Contemporary Instructional Design, Computer Science, Creative Music Technology, Data Science, Educational Leadership, Nursing, Social Work and Special Education, as well as a Doctor of Nursing Practice.

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