HSOP Student Pharmacists Participate in 60 Mile March
for Hunger Awareness
Hunger Facts:
24,000 people die
every day from hunger and related causes
7 out of 10 of the
world's hungry are women and girls
In developing countries, 6 million children die each year, mostly
from hunger-related causes
hese HSOP student pharmacists, Charlie Darling, Jessica Gresham, Josh
Hollingsworth, Brad Ledbetter, and Somer Smith, recently walked sixty miles to the State Capitol in Montgomery. To make it more challenging, they walked the first day, all 20 miles or so, in pouring rain. Why would they do such a thing? They wanted to help feed some hungry children and raise awareness about the issue of world hunger. Their sponsors pledged money for miles walked. All proceeds went directly to the United Nations World Food Programme's global school feeding programs.
On Friday, Oct. 17, these students joined other Auburn students and concerned citizens who set out from the Auburn University Medical Clinic. The mood was upbeat most of the time. As they walked, they listened to music on their IPODs and chatted to keep their spirits up when they became weary. They bedded down in Tuskegee at the end of the first day and Mount Meigs on the second. Jessica said, "We slept both nights in churches, but on floors."
However, that inconvenience was nothing compared to the torturous blisters they got on their feet because their shoes got soaking wet that first day out. The blisters were so bad that Jessica reported it took her three full weeks to recover. "We were so thankful," Jessica said, "to our sponsors Dr. Giles, Dean Henton and Professor Coutts for transporting our sneakers back to Auburn and drying them overnight on Friday."
But throbbing feet were not the only casualty on this trip. Even with drier shoes on days two and three, Somers and Josh had to throw their brand new shoes away after the walk. It was that bad -- so bad, in fact, the guys were making bets that Somer wouldn't finish, but she surprised them.
Somer said she relied on her faith to keep her going, especially the biblical admonition that what you do to the least of God's children, you do unto Him." She said, "I had such a satisfying/rewarding feeling as I approached the state capital with aching legs and painful blisters -- I teared up -- all I could think about was Matthew 25:35,40: 'For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me in.'"
In a final burst of energy, the group cheered their last mile "Feeding the world...one step at a time," and found the energy to run up the capital steps in celebration when they finally arrived.
"We got to the State capitol about noon on Sunday and were greeted by several supporters." Said Jessica. A couple of State representatives spoke. Both Democrats and Republicans were represented, as well as a representative from the Agricultural Council of Alabama. Haley Walker, the Committee of 19 president, also spoke.
An experience like this usually leaves one with lessons learned. For Somer, she said hers was realizing that "even she, a simple pharmacy student, could make a difference." She said, "We (the HSOP walkers) raised over $1,000. It takes 25 cents a day to feed a hungry child, which means by my walking 60 miles, I helped feed about 4000 children."
As a Committee of 19 representative, Somer wants to remind everyone that a child dies every 5 seconds from hunger, and that the gage for hunger is not based on poverty or income these days, but on how many kilocalories a whole family consumes a day. An average for hungry people is about 1200.
"Think about that," said Somer. "That's way less than I consume in a day, and I'm 5'2"/105 lbs." She reminds us that only 0.5% of the federal budget goes towards feeding the hungry. "That is why," she said, "it is up to faith based organizations, churches, the Committee of 19, the World Food Programme, etc., to feed the hungry. Sometimes that require stepping out of your comfort zone and just going for it," said SomerThe five student pharmacists representing the Harrison School of Pharmacy certainly stepped out of their comfort zones and went for it on this walk. They made a difference in the fight against world hunger, and they've made their School and University proud.
In brief, Auburn University was chosen to launch this campaign against hunger some years ago by the World Food Programme. It started with Auburn's College of Human Sciences. They were asked to find creative, no-cost methods of spreading the word to other schools. The Committee of 19 is the student leadership arm of the initiative representing every school, college and major organization on campus.
Right now Auburn has influenced 70 other schools to participate in raising hunger awareness. And, not surprisingly, Auburn is the leader in the campaign. "ALL other schools model us," said Somer. "We are encouraging others schools to join the cause and march on their State capitals at this same time next year." War Eagle to the HSOP walkers and Auburn University for their dedication to this worthy cause.
To learn about the Hunger March and the partnership between Auburn and the United Nations World Food Programme, go to the following link: http://www.auburn.edu/event/hunger/publish.php?doc_id=1
View a slide show of the walk on the upper left menu bar or here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/joshuahollingsworth/sets/72157608244216121/