Friday, January 24, 2025
Free Mom Hugs offers support to members of LGBTQIA+ community HAYDEN ALEXANDER NEWS & LIFESTYLE EDITOR
Bryson Thadhani The president of Students for Justice in Palestine helps put together rallies, protests and events for the club.
‘Our work doesn’t stop’: Students react to Israel-Hamas ceasefire hesitant about what we’re going to see after,” Mena said. Brady Patterson, who serves as the membership chair for Students for Justice in Palestine, said he would like to see peace but is not confident in the ceasefire. “We obviously hope that there will be On Jan. 19, Israel and Hamas entered the peace,” Patterson said. “We obviously hope first of a three-phase ceasefire deal after 470 that the ceasefire can work, but when we look days of fighting. historically at what Israel has done, Israel More than 46,000 Palestinians have died always violates the ceasefire.” since the Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, President Donald Trump told reporters in 2023 according to The Associated Press. the Oval Office that he is not confident in the The ceasefire is meant to offer a break from ceasefire, stating, “It’s not our war,” according the violence and allow for the exchange of to CNN. hostages for Palestinian prisoners, but many “That’s pretty ironic, considering the fact fear it won’t last. that billions of dollars of weaponry is from One OSU student worries for her family as the United States has gone to Israel when the Israel and Hamas settle into an uneasy truce. president just said that it’s not their war to Mena, who asked not to use her last name fight,” Mena said. due to safety concerns, was born in Gaza and Holley Hansen, a political science profesis in constant contact with her family in the sor at OSU, said that the ceasefire is the first area. step to resolving the conflict, but a clear-cut Following videos surfacing online of answer is not that simple. violence continuing after the ceasefire, Mena “Having a ceasefire doesn’t mean this and her family told her loved ones in Gaza to conflict is over,” Hansen said. “You can think be careful. of them as trust-building exercises. There’s “My family is from Rafa, so we told our a chance to have a pause in the fighting, but family to slow down on returning back to there’s no guarantee that it will continue. look at their homes because it’s not even safe Hansen’s research focuses on conflict to go back,” Mena said. mediation, and she said a significant factor in The ceasefire is only in its first phase, but the continuation of the ceasefire is “spoilers” Mena fears that the truce will not continue. or people who would like to see the conflict “I’m pretty sad with the ceasefire because I continue for their own personal gain. See CEASEFIRE on page 5A read through the whole plan… it seems very
HAYDEN ALEXANDER NEWS & LIFESTYLE EDITOR
Sometimes, all people need is a hug. Volunteers with the nonprofit organization Free Mom Hugs came to OSU on Tuesday offering hugs and words of encouragement to students. “The idea is that there are a lot of people out there you don’t know, they might be needing some love, some caring and so we just volunteer to give people hugs randomly,” first-time volunteer Sarah Prater said. While brightening people’s days with hugs is the goal there is much more to the organization than meets the eye. Free Mom Hugs offers support to members of the LGBTQIA+ community. Kim Shenold joined Prater carrying a sign advertising the free hugs to students. The multi-colored sign hinted at the organization’s mission to help LGBTQIA+ students feel accepted and loved. Shenold’s child is gender diverse and said she that
members of the LGBTQIA + community need support. “We just need to have a more positive light on the LGBTQIA+ community, especially in this part of the country,” Shenold said. “This is one small thing that I can do to show people that they’re welcome and accepted.” Sara Cunningham started Free Mom Hugs in Oklahoma City to be there for members of the LGBTQIA+ community that might not receive the love they need from their families. Cunningham didn’t start out as an ally and had no idea how to handle her son’s homosexuality at first. Growing up in the church and surrounded by a conservative community influenced her response to her son, Parker. “I was born to believe that homosexuality was wrong, and that if my son was gay, that meant that I had failed as a mother and as a woman of faith,” Cunningham said. It took Cunningham a long time to open up to her son’s sexuality, but she wanted to maintain her faith and her relationship with her son.
See HUGS on page 5A
Hayden Alexander
Kim Shenold (left) and Sarah Prater (right) walked around campus Tuesday giving out free hugs for National Hug Day.
Food insecurity rates rise in Payne County JESSICA PEARCE STAFF REPORTER
Jessica Pearce
John Moran stocks shelves at Our Daily Bread before a shopping session.
Sarah Fadling, a mother of three and a longtime Cushing resident, said recent years have made it difficult to raise her family in the community it loves. With years of rising grocery prices, health issues and the closure of the local grocery store, Fadling said she worries about being able to feed her family every week. “Our sons are used to making a big pile of food on their plate,” Fadling said. “We’ve had to tell them, ‘Hey, don’t go crazy.’ It’s not something you want to ever tell anyone in your house, especially your kids.” That strain is familiar to residents of Payne County, where 17% of residents are considered food insecure, according to Feeding America, a national nonprofit working to address food insecurity and promote access to healthy food. As grocery prices rise and pandemicera benefit programs end, officials expect
the issue to worsen. That puts a greater strain on existing government assistance programs, school districts and local food resource centers. To meet the growing demand, OSU is working with community partners to provide healthy, affordable food for residents of Payne County and OSU students. What is food insecurity? Food insecurity — the lack of access to nutritious, affordable food — is on the rise in Payne County and across the state. Austin Prickett, the marketing manager for the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma, said the increase in food insecurity rates stem from the long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and a rising cost of living across Oklahoma. “During the pandemic, we had all these really great federal and state programs that were helping us reach folks,” Prickett said. “But in the last few years, a lot of those programs have ended, so now people are finding themselves without enough funding month to month. It’s gotten quite a bit worse.”
See FOOD on page 8A