Rice and solidarity are not words that commonly come together. But two weeks ago in Foley Commons, they met. Campus minister Jason Horinger, did not stumble across a stray recipe from the foods room, rather, a Holy Cross praxis.

Tuesday, Sept. 16, students were encouraged to make a minimum donation of $3 to replace their normal lunch for a small bowl of rice, a slice of bread and a cup of water. The idea was to support the impoverished people of the Caribbean nation, Haiti.

For months, people of Haiti have been battling skyrocketing food prices and recently have been forced to fight for survival from the destruction of Hurricane Ike. They are literally starving to death.

The alternative lunch was established not only to raise money, but to raise awareness of what those people are lucky to have as a meal.

The days leading up to the event left Horinger curious as to how the students would react.

“People seemed excited,” Horinger said. “Students and teachers asked how they could help.”

When Tuesday came, he was floored by the reaction the meal received. Throughout lunch periods Horinger was busy serving food and talking to students about the cause. He was happy to see so many students get involved and take the event seriously.

“It really made them think about why we are doing this and how they can live like that,” Horinger said.

He heard students remark how little the amount of food was, and that they could not imagine living like that day to day.

Overall, the results of the event far surpassed Horinger’s expectations. It raised almost $1,000 and created new awareness throughout the school.

Combined with another $1,300 in donations from a dress-down day and Hot dogs for Haiti, Hoban is making a difference and learning a lesson.

“There are people living in subhuman conditions, and even though we do not want to think that this is happening, it still is,” Horinger said. “But when we truly understand what they are going through, we can make a change.”