Lutheran Advocacy Ministry of Nevada

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Local church aims to draw attention to hunger

By Paul Takahashi (contact)

Tuesday, Oct. 12, 2010 | 3:50 p.m.

The Lakes Lutheran Church

A local church is inviting Las Vegas residents to experience what it’s like to be at risk of hunger.

The Lutheran Advocacy Ministry in Nevada, along with social service organizations Lutheran Social Services of Nevada and Family Promise, are hosting a Hunger 101 simulation on Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon. Residents are invited to The Lakes Lutheran Church, 8200 W. Sahara Ave., to explore the day-to-day realities of domestic hunger.

The simulation attempts to recreate the hardships of being a member of the working poor. Participants will role-play people in difficult economic situations: a single mother of three, a young couple with a child, a grandmother caring for her grandchild or a child caring for his sick mother.

Understanding their assigned personas, participants will then calculate their daily food budget, taking into account their monthly income and other expenses. They will then have 45 minutes to visit four stations set aside as a bank, grocery store, food pantry and local food stamp office in order to procure food for their family. Finally, attendees will be able to share the issues they faced in the simulation and brainstorm solutions during a group discussion.

“We’re hoping to spark an interest in people to realize that there is a real hunger problem in Clark County,” said Program Director Maxine Harju. “It’s not just because of the deep recession, it’s been going on for years.”

Those interested can register for the event by e-mailing contact information – name, daytime phone number and congregation/community organization – to Harju at maxineharju@yahoo.com. The simulation is open to the public.

The Lutheran Social Services of Nevada was founded to address the growing needs of people seeking emergency food, housing and employment assistance in Nevada. Since 1997, the agency has provided assistance to more than 135,000 Nevadans in need, according to organization records.

Family Promise is a housing organization founded in 1986 to help homeless and low-income families achieve sustainable independence. Since its founding, Family Promise has served more than 300,000 people, helping the majority of them to secure housing, according to their website.