At the Old Rochester Regional Junior High School on February 13, guests of the Oxfam fundraising banquet got a taste of world hunger when they symbolically experienced the inequitable distribution of wealth and resources during a dinner of either just rice, rice or beans, or a full meal of rice, beans, and baked fish, determined at random by which ticket guests received at the door. Those eating rice and sitting on the floor or simply in chairs represented the majority of people on the planet, roughly 50% of the human population. The middle 35% sat at simple tables, while the upper 15% dined at tables with tablecloths and a full meal. Just about 100 students volunteered for the event, serving food, cleaning up, and also displaying science projects they created to raise awareness of climate change and how people can lessen their carbon footprints. The students themselves organized and coordinated the event with the help of ORRJHS teacher Kathy Gauvin. “It really is about the kids and teaching them to be global citizens,” said Gauvin. Photos by Jean Perry
