An LSU organization, Kitchens On The Geaux, is reminding students to keep the homeless in mind this winter, especially during unseasonably cold weather, by “forking” the campus parade grounds.
Volunteers awoke early and braved the cold Monday to cover the grounds with plastic forks.
Each white, plastic utensil is a representation of a homeless person in Baton Rouge. By the end of the week, there will be approximately five thousand forks.
The annual forking of the parade grounds is part of LSU’s participation in Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week.
Volunteer David Munoz, a sophomore from New Orleans, said “we’re trying to get the campus to see how big of a problem [homelessness] is here in Baton Rouge. People are really going hungry here.”
Although the homeless population in Baton Rouge has declined over the past few years, thousands still remain without food and shelter.
Munoz says it’s important for people to realize “just because you are living well-off and have food every day, doesn’t mean other people are.”
The point of display is to attract attention to the problem.
“It’s really hard to miss a field full of plastic forks,” said Austin Adams, a sophomore from Lafayette.
Despite the biting cold, Adams felt the need to volunteer because “it’s not a problem that a lot of people think about.”
“I know personally I’m about to go back to my nice, warm apartment and eat some soup but there are tons of people out there right now who are in the cold with no food and are struggling,” Adams said.
Other events planned for the week include sock and toiletries drives, a hunger banquet featuring the president of the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank, Mike Manning, and opportunities to volunteer at community gardens.