There is a way to help the hunger.

NIU students did not have to go anywhere or do anything but sign their name and skip a meal once a month to help feed needy people.

Skip-A-Meal is a volunteer campaign to help feed the homeless by skipping dinner on Feb. 6, March 7, April 3, and May 1.

Sherri Yunker, a student and a Hall Council representative, said people went to each room on every floor of the residence halls and asked if they would like to skip a meal to help end hunger.

Latonya Holiway, coordinator for the Campaign Against Hunger, said, “Fifty percent of the money raised goes toward the hunger in DeKalb. The rest of the money goes toward the hunger nationally.”

This year almost 1,800 students signed up for Skip-A-Meal, a decrease from 2,500 participants last year, Holiway said.

Edith Elder, a systems analyst for the residence hall food service, said students could sign up to skip four meals in the spring semester.

The floor with the most participants in Skip-A-Meal will receive a pizza party, Yunker said. “We’re not trying to bribe them, but encourage them to do it for a good cause,” she said.

Belinda Tijerina, a Stevenson Towers North resident assistant, said the amount of money given to the needy is determined by how many students signed up for this program.

The food service workers only prepare enough food for the students expected to eat, Tijerina said. The money saved goes toward the campaign against hunger, she said.

Students who participated in the campaign said it is a good way to help the people in DeKalb and it is a good cause. Vikki King, a graduate business student participating in Skip-A-Meal, said she feels it is a disgrace that a country as wealthy as America has people in need of money for food.