The 18th Annual World Food Day Panel was held in Reeves Theater on Wednesday. Students of the personnel and human resources were led by the World Food Day Campus Outreach Group to hold to informative panels.
“The purpose of World Food Day is to help the people in need in the community,” said Catherine Giunta, professor of the personnel and human resources class. “We want to generate global and local awareness of hunger, and make sure that students realize the importance of volunteering and continue to do so.”
Various guests involved with nutrition, consumer science, and food distribution gave presentations. Many of the presentations focused on the importance of food for all.
“What can you do to help?” asked Vince Kianese, the student perspective speaker on the panel.
Kianese suggested using a websites such as freerice.com to donate food to hungry families. “All you need to do is answer the questions on the site about vocabulary. As you get the questions correct they get harder, and 10 grains of rice are donated for each correct answer,” he said.
In addition, business students are required to bring non-perishable food items as their admission ticket to class.
Other food collection boxes will be placed around campus until Oct. 23. A second food drive will be held in November.
“Even though the students attending are from business classes, hunger is not just a business problem,” said Giunta.
CEO of the Westmoreland County Food Bank (WCFB), Kris Douglas, provided several facts about the Food Bank’s services.
“1 in 6 Americans must question where their next meal is coming from,” said Douglas. “The Westmoreland County Food Bank is working to change that.”
Douglas was proud to report that the WCFB distributed 6.8 million pounds of food to eligible recipients. He asked students to “volunteer, donate and educate.”