PLAN A HUNGER BANQUET IN YOUR COMMUNITY!

The Fighting Poverty with Faith Oxfam Hunger Banquet program is a unique and memorable event that allows organizers and participants alike to experience firsthand how our decisions affect others in the United States.

Here’s how it works: Guests draw tickets at random that assign them each to either a high-, middle-, or low income group– based on the latest statistics about the number of people living in poverty in the United States. Each income level receives a corresponding meal: The 20 percent in the high-income group are served a sumptuous, healthy meal; the 40 percent in the middle-income group eat a simple meal of spaghetti and soda; and the 40 percent in the low-income group help themselves to small portions of white bread and water.

Guests can also assume characterizations that describe the situation of a specific person at the income level to which they’ve been assigned. Finally, all the guests are invited to share their thoughts after the meal and to take action and advocate to fight poverty with faith.

Download the Fighting Poverty with Faith Oxfam “Hunger Banquet Toolkit” for great resources about planning a Fighting Poverty with Faith Hunger Banquet, including a how-to guide for organizers, a sample Hunger Banquet script, sample identities for each income level, tips from communities and experts who’ve used this program previously, tips for planning a low-budget Hunger Banquet, opportunities for Fighting Poverty with Faith-focused advocacy at the end of of the program, and more! The Hunger Banquet Toolkit is available as a PDF and as a Word document in both .doc/Word 2003 and .docx/Word 2007 formats.

**Hunger Banquet® is a registered service mark of Oxfam America, Inc. (http://www.oxfamamerica.org ), an international relief and development organization that creates lasting solutions to poverty, hunger, and injustice. The Fighting Poverty with Faith Oxfam Hunger Banquet program and Oxfam America Hunger Banquet materials have been adapted by Fighting Poverty with Faith with the express permission of Oxfam America.  For more information about Oxfam America Hunger Banquet events, please visit http://actfast.oxfamamerica.org/index.php/events/banquet.**