STUDENTS TO DO SPRING CLEANING TO FIGHT HUNGER

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                FOR MORE INFORMATION:
April 15, 2007                                               Lindsey Engh, 509 993 2480
                                                                  

PRESS RELEASE
STUDENTS TO DO SPRING CLEANING TO FIGHT HUNGER

SEATTLE – With the cherry trees blooming and the smell of spring in the air, spring-cleaning is always as inevitable as the season itself. This year, however, University of Washington WashPIRG students are participating in a different kind of cleaning. The 23rd Annual Hunger Cleanup is a national event that will be taking place among PIRG chapters all across America on Sunday, April 15th. Volunteers from WashPIRG will be helping local thrift stores, soup kitchens, and homeless shelters throughout Seattle in the U-District, Bellevue, and Downtown with their much needed spring-cleaning.

“This event is a wonderful chance for students to express their belief that hunger and homelessness has become an unacceptable issue, especially in the most affluent country in the world,” said Kelsey Getz, the WashPIRG Board Chair. “Instead of becoming less apparent, hunger and homelessness continues to be very relevant in our own communities.”

While having the chance to voice their opinions through action during the Cleanup, students are also being sponsored by friends, family, and small businesses to raise money for the Annual Cleanup as well. The money raised through this process will go towards University District Service Providers, towards advocacy and education efforts through the National Student Campaign Against Hunger and Homelessness, and towards international projects, including providing medical supplies for one year towards Darfur refugees, as well as providing refuge and support for young girls living in Zimbabwe against abuse and for the continuation of schooling.

“These are real problems that Americans experience everyday, and should be more aware about. That’s really what this Hunger Cleanup is about – to raise awareness through activism and sponsorship,” says James Mellinger, a sophomore at the University of Washington and a team leader for the Hunger Cleanup. “What needs to be done is not only through the community level, but also at the national and international lever as well. That is what this Cleanup aims to do.”

At the various sites on Sunday, students will gain insight to a world that is very much left untouched by the public and the government. By not only helping the direct ties to the hungry and homeless, students will also raise awareness and sponsorship that will go directly to the cause.

“As long as we face this issue throughout the world, students will never stop fighting towards an answer. This Hunger Cleanup has already proven a success with the fundraising involved so far, and we are very enthusiastic about our part in the spring cleaning of so many of the Seattle homeless and hungry shelters,” says Getz.

The money raised will be seen in Seattle’s own community through the University District Service Providers Alliance, and nationally towards the national campaign for hunger and homelessness. This has proved to be an excellent outlet for hunger and homelessness before, and this year’s Hunger Cleanup will continue towards its goal of raising awareness towards this issue.