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Sociology Club Talks Poverty, Land Use

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Sociology Club Talks Poverty, Land Use

Since the start of the school year, the Sociology Club has been looking to bind the community together in making decisions about land use, poverty and charity, and they may have already sparked some inspiration into their audience.

The club hosted multiple documentary screenings this month that focus on land use and poverty in Coeur d’Alene, inviting students and community members alike to come have free popcorn and drinks, as well as discuss the issues.

“I believe strongly in getting people involved in the community,” Patty McGruder said, treasurer of the Sociology Club and former 10-year outreach crisis worker. “It takes a community effort, and a big piece of that is educating people.”

City officials, including City Planner Lori Burchett and Executive Director of Kootenai Environmental Alliance Adrienne Cronebaugh, worked in partnership with the club to screen “The Land of Opportunity,” a documentary on land use, to raise awareness about the importance of community involvement.

“The documentary is really asking the question, ‘What do you want your city to look like in the 21st century?’”, Cronebaugh said. “And that’s a question they had to ask when they were rebuilding after Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. But it’s a question that’s being asked everywhere – even here in Kootenai County – and it’s something we’re very involved with.”

The Kootenai Environmental Alliance is a non-profit environmental organization whose focus area is land use.

The club continued their fight for awareness and community involvement with their screening of “American Winter,” a documentary following five families living in poverty in Portland.

NIC students Michaela Dreyer and Charles McLaughlin particularly related to the film, coming from similar backgrounds themselves.

“It was an interesting experience for me,” Dreyer said, “because I have grown up on food stamps with my mom, and to be honest, I never felt poor – I didn’t. And so seeing how much it affected them […] it was just an eye opener for me of how devastating it can be for families, because I’ve lived on the luckier side of that.”

“It’s also nice to learn about all the opportunities that we have for assistance in Coeur d’Alene,” said McLaughlin. “I was shocked when she said that the homeless percentage was higher than Boise. And I’m from Boise and I thought it was high there, and to find out it’s higher than Boise’s homeless, it’s dumbfounding. It’s definitely a shocker.”

Representatives from the club reminded students that if they want to help, they can start by joining student groups, voting in elections, and even consider running as representatives in their respective areas.

On April 21st, the club will host a symposium on poverty, where they will gather food, clothing, money and school supplies for people in need in the area.

This is not the first event the club has hosted in an effort for community fundraising. It recently collected over 150 pairs of shoes from its annual shoe drive.

“It went pretty well,” recently-elected club President Sara Zwink said. “We distributed [the shoes] around, which was really cool to see the whole process come full circle there.”

“Really what it all comes down to is awareness,” Zwink said. “This is where it starts.”

Club members and students agree though, that action must follow awareness. And it seems to have sparked a spirit of action into participants already.

“If the right people watch [“American Winter”], or even if the people who watch this movie feel the initiative to start something, you know, I think it could make a difference,” Dreyer said. “But if people watch this show and they go home and cry, and then they’re like, ‘oh’, and then they move on with their life, you know, it’s not really going to do much.”

For more information on the Sociology Club, visit their Facebook page, North Idaho College Sociology Club. Visit kealliance.org for more information on the Kootenai Environmental Alliance, land use, and more.

Taylor Nadauld is the Lead Reporter for the Sentinel. This is her third semester at NIC where she is pursuing an A.S. degree in Journalism.

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