Throughout this week, UW-Madison student organizations WisPIRG and the Poverty Action Network are hosting a series of events in observance of National Homelessness and Hunger Awareness Week.
According to Danny Katz, a campus organizer for WisPIRG, this week's events will spread awareness and understanding of homelessness and hunger issues to students on the UW-Madison campus.
The activities commenced Monday with a kickoff party at Gordon Commons featuring performances by a variety of musical groups and a fund-raising auction.
A panel discussion at which several homeless and formerly homeless people will relate their personal struggles will take place Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the Catacombs Coffee House, 731 State St.
Liza Hirsch, a UW-Madison sophomore and intern with WisPIRG's hunger and homelessness campaign, said she hopes Tuesday's program will eliminate students' stereotypes of homeless people.
\That homeless people should just go out and get a job is one of the stereotypes we want to dispel,"" she said.
According to Hirsch, 45 percent of homeless people hold jobs, but simply can't afford the cost of housing.
Wednesday speakers will discuss the nationwide shortage of affordable housing at 8 p.m. on Library Mall. After the program, participants will spend the night outside as a gesture of support for the homeless population.
Hirsch said homelessness affects citizens on both a local and national level.
""We're trying to bring it to a local level so that people can relate to it, but at the same time we're going to draw larger conclusions about all of Dane County and all of the U.S.,"" she said.
Thursday at Luther Memorial Church, 1021 University Ave., there will be a ""hunger banquet"" at 7:30 p.m. Participants will join in an active demonstration of uneven food distribution. They will be designated either as lower, middle or upper class and served their dinners accordingly.
Joe Lindstrom, the organizer of PAN and a UW-Madison senior, said ultimately the groups hope to inspire students to become politically active.
""Once we have people educated, then we're going to try to get them involved,"" he said.
Lindstrom said he and other organizers aim to rally students behind such proposed legislative measures designed to increase the availability of affordable housing.
""My main goal is to convince students and community members that homelessness is a solvable problem,"" Lindstrom said.
The week's events will conclude on Saturday with a series of speeches, workshops and political debate at Grainger Hall from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
