A representative from the Second Harvest Food Bank of NW PA is
always available to come to your classroom and play the "Hunger Game"
with your students. The "Hunger Game" is a sharing and budgeting
experience for students. Classes are broken into groups of different
income levels, and given meals proportional to the national statistics on
poverty. For example, the High Class Group receives the most food, the Low
Class Group receives the least.
The students are asked to find a way to allow everyone in the
room to have a complete meal and then their actions and decisions are discussed as a class and
applied to what happens in real life. Students are usually very
thoughtful and insightful in the post-game discussion.
Along with the "Hunger Game," we also have a
budgeting activity that demonstrates how a family of four operates on a budget
of $14,000 a year, an income of someone who makes $6.73 per hour (above minimum
wage). After paying all of the expenses that a family incurs, the students
are left to find a way to feed the family. Do you keep your apartment and
pay your rent, or do you eat? Millions of Americans face questions like
this everyday. By allowing the students an opportunity to learn about the
state of hunger in our community, we hope to help spark a compassion for
others. Through these exercises we hope to make people more aware of the
problem of hunger.
