On Wednesday, Feb. 26, Marquette Ending Hunger (MEH) hosted a trivia night with fun prizes for the top three winners. These prizes included a Lego set, a speaker and a gift card to Blossom Bird Bubble Tea.

“Marquette Ending Hunger focuses on spreading awareness about food insecurity in the U.P.,” said Sydney Butler, co-president of MEH.

The trivia was on Quizzizz with a mix of random content, including questions informing students about hunger and poverty, which is unfortunately present in the Upper Peninsula. 

“I think it is really important to talk about this, especially since a lot of people who are food insecure are people in college, because it is expensive. It’s important to spread awareness about that,” Butler said.

This awareness can be raised through attending the many events that MEH hosts. These events range from grilled cheese nights and trivia nights to the annual Canathon and food drives. 

“We do a lot of food drives, and a lot of times, the proceeds we get tends to go to our food pantry here,” Butler said. “They’re the first people that we choose to support because they do so much for the people that go to school and work here.”

NMU’s food pantry locations can be found in 101B Gries Hall and 101D Jacobetti Center.

“The food pantry is a very accessible resource. It’s not like a food truck that you have to apply for,” said Jaiden Cunningham, co-president of MEH. “It’s a small business that is accessible and close and is really easy and readily available to students.”

The food pantry is available to anyone and the MEH members highly encourage everyone to visit.

Another way the MEH is raising awareness is through their current efforts on organizing an event called A Walk to Fight Hunger which will take place on April 12. 

Butler and Cunningham want to call awareness to the issues people face on campus, because even if you don’t have the means to donate, getting the word out is beneficial too.

“If you don’t have the means to donate, just being here is good awareness, and it’s awareness that will get the people who do have the means to donate, to find us and hear about us,” Cunningham said. “You can be like a supportive friend to somebody who’s struggling, or if you do have the means to donate money or food, you can do that to the food pantry or any of our food drives or events.”