Central College is hosting an evening of festivities aimed at helping solve the problem of homelessness and poverty.

This evening, they will hold the Oxfam America Hunger Banquet in the Graham Conference Center at 6 p.m., where half of the guests will eat a meager dinner, seated on the floor.

At the banquet, guests will draw tickets to be randomly assigned a high-, middle- or low-income tier, based on the latest poverty statistics and receive a corresponding meal: the top 20 percent will be served a plentiful dinner; the middle 30 percent will eat a simple meal of rice and beans; and the remaining 50 percent will receive small portions of rice and water. All guests will then be invited to share their thoughts and take action to help overcome global poverty .The event is open to the public and costs $5, and Central students can attend for free.

All guests will be invited to share their thoughts and take action to help overcome global poverty and will also receive a handcrafted souvenir created by the Pella Art Center for the event. Also, Central biology students will display their research on poverty and sustainability issues, originally presented at the Heartland Global Consortium, outside the banquet area starting at 5:30 p.m. Guests can reserve a place at the banquet by calling 641-628-5424 or emailing Katie Zellmer at zellmerk@central.edu.