With a poverty rate of about 33 percent, Whitman is the poorest county in Washington state, and student and community leaders planned a week’s worth of events in Pullman to raise poverty awareness.

Since 2003, Washington State University has participated in Poverty Awareness Week (PAW), an offshoot of National Hunger & Homelessness Awareness Week. According to the website for the National Coalition for the Homeless, National Hunger & Homelessness Awareness Week is a time to give thanks and recognize the needs of others.

The Center for Civic Engagement (CCE) and several Registered Student Organizations (RSOs) at WSU collaborated with community members to hold different types of fundraising campaigns.

This year, hygiene products were a huge need in the community. Taking locals’ needs into consideration, many groups responded to that need this week.

Six different contribution bins were set up in two different halls on campus, and the Crop and Soil Science Association collected hygiene products for Family Promise of the Palouse, an organization with the mission statement of “Ending homelessness on the Palouse, one family at a time.”

Erin McIlraith, marketing and communication coordinator for WSU, worked directly with CCE participants during PAW. McIlraith ensured that RSOs and other students are adequately equipped with information about the week.

“Myself and my team try to get to as many events as the organizations are putting on so that we can take photos and participate,” McIlraith said.

Over the past couple years, a major improvement to the week has been the availability of marketing packages, which make it easier and more efficient for groups to spread messages regarding their specific cause.

RSOs have creative freedom when it comes to the week’s events. The only requirements are that groups’ ideas for fundraisers or events must be related to a specific cause, are meant to alleviate poverty and will assist people living in poverty.

Jessica Serio, facilities and operations coordinator at the CUB, works to educate groups in the CUB about what they can and can’t do for events during PAW.

“CCE provides pretty much the main structure for everything. A couple of months leading up to poverty awareness week they have weekly meetings where their advisers, meet with the groups,” Serio said.

The CUB has made significant strides in recent years to help more RSOs get on board and use the CUB’s event spaces by changing its rates.

Yvonne Thompson, a doctoral student at WSU, is currently the president of the Black Graduate Student Association and the co-president of the Crop and Soil Sciences Association. As an active participant in both groups, Thompson has been a part of PAW several times. In the past, Thompson said she has been involved in events bake sales during the week, however, she realized a trend: students were often inclined to make a donation rather than actually purchase the product.

Events for PAW will continue until Nov. 21, and a full schedule can be found at cce.wsu.edu.