Sonoma State University will host a panel discussion on hunger and homelessness in Sonoma County tonight from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in the multipurpose room of the Student Union.

Sociology professor Sheila Katz will join panelists from the Redwood Empire Food Bank, Committee on the Shelterless (COTS) and Catholic Charities Family Support Center in a discussion dubbed “Hope for Hunger and Homelessness Panel.”

“Although economists recently announced that the ‘great recession’ officially ended in June 2009, the poverty rate increased in 2009 to its highest level in over 16 years, and currently one in seven Americans are poor, and one in five children experience hunger,” Katz said in a statement. “Events like this panel help raise awareness about hunger, homelessness and poverty, and the important work of local community organizations helping low-income families.”

The event is part of Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week on campus, organized by the student group Join Us in Making Progress (JUMP).

For more information, go to http://www.sonoma.edu/newscenter/ or call Katz at 664-2583 or email her at Sheila.katz@sonoma.edu.