Derek Felton failed and dropped out of grade school because he didn't eat breakfast.
Felton, the community-organizing coordinator for the Greater Philadelphia Coalition Against Hunger, shared his bitter childhood experiences with poverty and famishment in a round-table discussion with Penn students.
"I couldn't remember going to school and having eaten breakfast," Felton said. "The only meal I ate was the one in the evening."
As a result, he "couldn't pay attention, failed sixth and seventh grade and dropped out of eighth grade."
Emerging successfully out of poverty, Felton has devoted his efforts to combating the very system that ensnared him as a child.
He cites his early hardships -- working as a dishwasher, struggling with drug addiction and serving a prison sentence -- as crucial factors in his daily interactions with impoverished and needy individuals.
As a child, Felton began to steal money to provide for his family, telling his mother that he had found the cash on the street.
Referring to those in need, Felton said, "I could talk to them. They couldn't fool me, but instead [they] trusted me because I've been where they've been."
Having left middle school, Felton did not know how to read or write and hid this fact from employers and co-workers. Still, Felton later earned his General Education Development certification and college degree.
Eventually, Felton volunteered once a week as a chef in a soup kitchen, where he also recovered from his drug addiction through a "spiritual delivery through God."
When those who knew him realized that he wasn't a drug addict anymore and had started to "gain his life back," it began to "give them hope" and inspired him to become an active fighter against poverty.
Felton urged his audience to realize the severity of poverty and become active and informed advocates of the food stamp program. The program is a major source of monetary assistance of which the majority of low-income individuals and families do not choose to take advantage due to a lack of trust and faith in the federal assistance system.
"They've been through the system and can't trust it. What little they had, the system wanted them to give up in order to get a little more," he explained.
College junior Yael May, the founder and president of the Student Coalition Against Hunger, cites education and awareness as key elements in the struggle to help low-income families seek the assistance they need.
SCAH sponsored the lecture in conjunction with the Fox Leadership Program.
May's interest in starting the program arose after taking a class with Political Science lecturer Mary Summers, who worked with May to help found SCAH.
"I get to sit down with a potential client and discuss intimate things about their life," May said. "It's really fulfilling to be able to help them to be self-sufficient and raise their standards of living."
Lecture attendee and College senior Rita Axelroth reiterated the necessity of understanding the conditions of poverty from the perspectives of the impoverished.
"Anyone who hasn't faced issues with hunger or hasn't been [in that situation] won't understand it. They won't have the information they need in order to help others," Axelroth said.
