Poverty, Homelessness, and Hunger

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Poverty, Homelessness, and Hunger
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Lets Review

• Blue Sky
• Whats Your Passion/Cause?
• Introduction to Philanthropy
• Knowledge Passion Action! Change

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• TEKS
• Language Arts
• Gr. 6 Learn the meaning and properly use a
  variety of grade level words (e.g., words from
  literature, social studies, science, math).
• Gr. 7 Identify the literal meanings and shades
  of meaning of words. Determine word meaning
  through definition or explanation context clues.
• Gr. 8 Determine word meaning through definition
  or explanation context clues. Respond
  appropriately to group members' questions and
  contributions.
• Social Studies
• Gr. 6 Describe roles and responsibilities of
  citizens in selected contemporary societies
  including the United States. Identify different
  points of view about an issue or topic.
• Gr. 7 Support a point of view on a social
  studies issue or event.
• Gr. 8 Support a point of view on a social
  studies issue or event.

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Objectives

• Students will understand that
• hunger and homelessness are two symptoms of
  poverty.
• hunger and homelessness are widespread and can
  not always be recognized.
• they can help to alleviate the problem of hunger
  in Central Texas by participating in The Drive.

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1.
2.
3.
4.
6.
5.
7.
8.
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HOMELESS
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Homeless (adj)having no home or permanent place
to live
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What Do We Know about Homelessness?

• Homelessness is not a big problem in America.
• You can tell people are homeless by looking at
  them.
• Nicks parents do not have their own home, but
  Nicks family moves around and stays with
  different friends. Nicks family is homeless.
• Britney sleeps in a city shelter with her mother
  each night, so she is not homeless.

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FACT

• In February, 2010AISD counted close to 3,000
  school age children as homeless or living in
  doubled up arrangements.
• --Foundation for the Homeless

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VOICE

• Paul, Age 12
• When we first came here, we didnt have a
  house.We didnt have coats.We had to sleep in
  an abandoned house for half the night. My mom
  called from the public phone to my other aunt.
  She came to pick us up. We slept in her house,
  but my mom, she was looking for money and food
  and she didnt sleep. It was scary.

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HUNGER
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Hunger, noun

• A craving or urgent need for food or a specific
  nutrient
• An uneasy sensation brought on by lack of food
• A weakened condition caused by prolonged lack of
  food

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What Do We Know about Hunger?

• Hunger is a big problem in America.
• You can tell if a person is hungry just by
  looking at him or her.
• Dannys parents feed him two meals a day, but
  never three. Danny is hungry.
• Tara can eat three meals a day, but the only food
  her parents give her is Frosted Flakes. Tara is
  not hungry.

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FACT

• Texas ranks first in the nation in children who
  are hungry.
• --Texas Agriculture Commissioner, 2009

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VOICE

• Latoya, Age 11
• Sometimes were really hungry. Sometimes our
  electricity blows and we have nothing to eat but
  Cheerios and milk. Sometimes we even have to eat
  cereal and milk for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
  Sometimes Im scared for my friends to come over
  cause what if my mom dont have food and they
  say, Do you have any juice? No. Do you have
  a sandwich I could make? No.
• They might make fun of me and say, Oh well,
  Latoya dont have enough to eat at her house. We
  shouldnt go over her house and hang out with
  her, because she dont have enough to eat.

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Hunger Can Be Hidden(Food Insecurity)
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SOLVING PROBLEMS

• Prevention Band-Aid

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STARFISH STORY

• A young girl was walking along a beach upon which
  thousands of starfish had been washed up during a
  terrible storm. When she came to each starfish,
  she would pick it up, and throw it back into the
  ocean. People watched her with amusement.
•  
• She had been doing this for some time when a man
  approached her and said, Little girl, why are
  you doing this? Look at this beach! You cant
  save all these starfish. You cant begin to make
  a difference!
•  

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The girl seemed crushed, suddenly deflated. But
after a few moments, she bent down, picked up
another starfish, and hurled it as far as she
could into the ocean. Then she looked up at the
man and replied,   Well, I made a difference to
that one!   The old man looked at the girl
inquisitively and thought about what she had done
and said. Inspired, he joined the little girl in
throwing starfish back into the sea. Soon others
joined, and all the starfish were saved. -
adapted from the Star Thrower by Loren C. Eiseley
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The Drive
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THE DRIVE
Advocating for the Cause

• Advocate (noun) is one who defends or pleads
• on behalf of another person or cause.
•  
• The advocate pleaded with the mayor to provide
• more food for hungry families.

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The Drive 2009

• Students from 20 schools
• collected over 31,000 pounds of food.
• collected over 2,000 coats.
• met the entire need for coats in Del Valle.
• performed 20,108 hours of good work.
• returned 214,669.32 of economic value to the
  Austin community.

Goals for 2010 Coats 2400 Food 35,000 lbs
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Capitol Area Food Bank Facts

• 41 of our clients are children
• 95 of our Partner Agencies say they could no
  longer serve their clients if the Food Bank shut
  down tomorrow
• More than 1/3 of our older adult clients go
  extended periods without food
• 1 in 5 families we serve experience the physical
  pain of hunger

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Capitol Area Food Bank Facts

• Almost half of our clients have at least one
  working adult at home
• Almost half of the families we serve have to
  choose between buying food and paying utilities
• 82 of our clients are not homeless
• Of the 48,000 clients we serve each week 20,000
  are children

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Coats for Kids

• 7 months out of the year it drops below 60
  degrees.
• November February the average lows are in the
  40s.
• Many of the Coats for Kids clients do not have
  heat in their homes.
• Coats for Kids needs warm winter coats for both
  adults or kids in the community.

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Brainstorm Ways to Advocate on Your Campus

• Come up with a motto/slogan for your food and
  coat drive.
• Educate the other students on your campus about
  hunger and poverty through your advocacy
  campaign.
• Get the word out about
• The Drive.

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Help Reduce Hunger in Central Texas. Join the
Drive!
Bring Your Cans and Coats to School November 1st
-16th
1 out of 5 children in Texas are hungry.
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Other Local Statistics

• Approximately 200,000, or 20, of Travis County
  residents are classified as "working poor" by the
  Texas Dept. of Human Services. 
• 61 of Austin Independent School District
  (AISD) students are eligible for free or reduced
  lunch.
• 22 of children in Texas are facing hunger, and
  this is the highest rate in the nation.
• 12.5 of Austin-area families are living at or
  below poverty level.
• In 2007 approximately 45,214 children lived at
  or below the poverty line.

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Final Thoughts"The day someone quits school he
is condemning himself to a future of poverty.
--Jaime Escalante, educatorNever doubt that a
small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can
change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing
that ever has.--Margaret Mead,
anthropologist