The few seated at tables around the Maintenance Shop Wednesday were able to catch a small glimpse of what life is like for those for whom the possibility of a having even one full meal a day is scarce.

Morgan Dowdall, sophomore in pre-journalism and mass communication, hosted the Hunger Awareness Brown Bag Lunch this year. Dowdall became interested in the Bread for the World Project in high school through a community college servant leadership project. As time progressed and his participation in the project increased, Dowdall said he wanted to catch more people’s attention about this growing international issue and proposed the brown bag lunch as a way to “just try and get something new started.”

The purpose of the event was to serve as a promotion for the Hunger Banquet, which will be held Feb. 12. Unfortunately, the group discussion and other activities he originally planned did not take place because there was little to no student interest or participation. Dowdall blames this on the fact that this event is the first of its kind, and since it was put together at the last minute, not many advertisements besides those in the Memorial Union and on the Student Union Board (SUB) calendar could be posted around campus. Nonetheless, it has not stemmed the flow of passion and ideas he has for the project.

“I want to give people another way of looking at things and give them ideas about how they can help. I believe that even a single person can make a big impact throughout their community and that, even at a local level, people can make a difference. I want people to come away from this discussion and not be complacent – knowing that there is a problem, but just going along with their lives. I want people to take action, and to give them the means, ideas or support to make a difference in our world,” Dowdall said.

Beau Hindman, junior in sociology, who was one of the few who attended the event, said that although the presentation was not very engaging, he is interested in learning more about the project.

“I definitely appreciated the statistics and the pictures, and coming here has made me interested in checking out the Hunger Banquet,” Hindman said.