Students camped out in tents at the Statue Garden on San Jose State University campus Oct. 19, raising awareness of poverty, homelessness, and San Jose’s Measure D to increase the minimum wage.
It was the seventh annual Poverty Under the Stars event.
The keynote speakers were Cindy Chavez, executive director of the South Bay Labor Council, and Ash Kalra, a member of San Jose City Council.
The campaign for Measure D, which would increasure the minimum hourly wage in San Jose, was founded by San Jose State University student Marisela Castro.
She spoke to increase the awareness about the measure that will impact many residents of San Jose.
Castro said she gained support for the minimum wage increase one classmate at a time.
“I couldn’t have done this alone,” she said. “I needed other students to help me out.”
Pastor Scott Wagers from the Community Homeless Alliance Ministry, spoke about how poverty can affect families.
“People can have a job and still be homeless,” Wagers said.  “These are starvation wages.”
According to the Census Bureau, 6.1 million people in California are in poverty, and the highest percentage of that are children under 18 at 21.9 percent.
An increase of $2 could ease the burden of poverty for minimum wage workers, and decrease the transition to homelessness for many families.
At the end of the event, the crowd chanted “Raise the wage!” in support for Measure D.