There is a hunger to fight hunger and injustice, students of the Amnesty International group at Centre Wellington District High School discovered when they hosted their annual hunger banquet.
The event, held at the Elora Legion on March 27, raised $165 for four charities and raised awareness among those participating.
The charities included the Centre Wellington Food Bank, Liberty in North Korea, Invisible Children, and the reserve of Attawapiskat in northern Ontario by way of the CW Aboriginal Club.
Student Kaitlyn Berriman spoke about efforts to fight worldwide hunger in a speech prior to the meal.
“We are here today because more than 2.5 billion people live in poverty; 1.2 billion people worldwide – that’s one in five – live on less than $1 a day. Nearly 870 million people suffer from chronic hunger,” she said.
“Every 2.9 seconds, a child dies from hunger and other preventable diseases … that’s 30,000 children a day.”
The banquet was also an opportunity for high school culinary student Francois Giguere to practice his cooking skills as he planned and prepared the meal for the evening.
“I’ve worked in restaurants, but this is the first event by myself,” he said as he tended to the meal.
Teacher Elizabeth Avery, Amnesty facilitator at the high school, said the group has sent out letters to free political prisoners around the world with students sending out 1,200 letters to high commissioners, embassies and government officials.
Avery said the students are in the process of looking at ways to improve the fundraiser for next year.
