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Allen pastor takes on hunger strike for school supplies
Joel Miller looks on at the traffic on I-75 from his trailer parked near Trinity Hall Irish Pub in Allen. He plans to fast and sleep on the trailer until he gathers 60,000 school supply items for disadvantaged children in the area.
By Conner Hammett, chammett@acnpapers.com
While Joel Miller hasn’t eaten in more than 20 days, he’s showing no signs of giving up on his goal.
“I’m not feeling the greatest right now, but my spirit is strong,” he said.
Since Aug. 3, Miller has camped on the roof of a trailer parked on the west side of U.S. 75 in Allen. He has vowed to go without food until he collects 60,000 school supplies for disadvantaged children in Allen, McKinney and Plano.
Miller said that while his wife of 19 years has come to expect risky endeavors such as this, other members of his family are less comfortable with his hunger strike.
“My 4 year old says she likes it better when I live with them,” he said.
Throughout his campaign, Miller has consumed only water. While contributors have occasionally offered him sports drinks, he has declined. He considers Gatorade cheating.
Other contributors have brought small food items such as cookies and oatmeal pies with their donations. Miller said he has had little trouble resisting such temptations.
“This is more than just a school supply drive for me. It’s about my personal relationship with God,” he said. “I made a vow to him and to the community that this is what I’m going to do, so I’m not going to sneak a nugget. To me, my vow is worth more than a nugget or a cookie.”
Miller is the senior pastor of The Summit, a non-denominational church in Allen. After finishing his bachelor's degree at Berea College in Kentucky, the Dallas native earned a Master's of Divinity from Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando, Florida. He has studied in Nicaragua and Sierra Leone in Africa and has been a minister for more than 13 years.
His campaign is through North Dallas for Kids, an organization that works with schools, city governments and nonprofits to provide aid for disadvantaged children.
In November 2009, Miller raised $150,000 worth of food for hungry families at Craig's Crossing shopping center in McKinney. As with this year's campaign, he camped on top of a trailer and refused to eat until he met his goal.
Miller has gathered approximately 58,000 items for this year's campaign so far. He hopes his campaign will net enough school supplies to help 10,000-15,000 children.
“If you have a kid who comes into the classroom and they don’t have the supplies, they come in at a disadvantage,” he said. “They don’t feel good about themselves. They disengage and become problems for the teachers.”
Miller hopes his campaign will change that for area schools.
“What I’m trying to do, to the best of my ability, is make the playing field better from the beginning, so they can feel better about themselves and at least feel that they’re on the same level as their peers,” he said.
Throughout the day, Miller says, his energy levels vary. By 7:30 p.m. Monday, there was a noticeable tiredness in his voice.
“Sometimes I get a boost,” he said. “Once it gets to about this time of day, I’m spent. The mornings are the best. I feel good in the morning, but as the day progresses, it gets worse. Once it gets to about 7 o’clock, I’m about ready to pass out in the grass.”
Miller said he chose a hunger strike as a vehicle for his campaign because it leaves citizens with a tangible example of sacrifice for a greater cause – something he hopes he can bring out in members of the community.
“There’s sacrifice in all of us,” he said. “My hope is that my sacrifice will call out in some way to the sacrifice that exists in this city.”
Neva Russell first became aware of Miller’s campaign after seeing his trailer while eating at a nearby IHOP. Now that her children have grown and moved away, she said, she no longer has to buy them school supplies and wants to put that money toward his cause. On Monday, she brought a large box of binders and other supplies to Miller's trailer.
“Not everyone does worthwhile things,” she said. “What he does is worthwhile.”
While Miller still has 2,000 more items to go before he can call it quits, he said he’s prepared to stay hungry as long as it takes to achieve his goal.
“Faith is all about risk,” he said.
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