Hundreds of Loras students gathered recently in the Athletic Wellness Center to hear Dr. Donna Beegle speak about a topic very personal to her.

Along with her parents and five brothers, Beegle spent her first 28 years living in poverty. Her parents were migrant workers who moved from place to place in search of menial work. The only thing her family had was each other.

“In poverty, things get taken away from you,” she said. “You learn not to care. The only thing that is yours are people, so you hold onto them.”

Beegle is the author of “See Poverty … Be the Difference!” She is president of Communication Across Barriers, a consulting firm devoted to improving communication and relationships. She also is founder of a nonprofit group, Povertybridge, that is dedicated to changing lives for people in poverty.

She said many people who have met her over the years were shocked to hear her story because she is white.

“White poverty is not talked about, but the majority of Americans living in poverty are white,” she said.

A source of frustration for Beegle is the way the media portrays poverty.

“The media tells us that people in poverty are lazy and made the choice to live that way, when in reality many people in poverty are working two minimum-wage jobs and trying to make ends meet, needing to make the choice between groceries or rent.

“We are missing out on so much by not giving them a chance,” she continued. “We are very capable as society to help those in poverty, but we need to first be educated. People think that we’re stupid because we don’t know what middle-class people know. We know a lot of things, but we have had different experiences.”

She shared with the audience some statistics that she finds astounding — the amount of money Americans spend on materialistic goods.

“I found it astonishing that the amount spent on pet toys alone last year could provide health care for every child in America for the next five years,” said senior Matt Romkey, who attended the speech.

Beegle emphasized the importance of understanding who you are speaking to so you can relate to one’s experiences.

“If we don’t understand, we judge,” she said. “People think that moms and dads who don’t go to their child’s parent-teacher conferences don’t care about their children. We need to stop judging before we can help.

“My mother never attended my parent-teacher conferences like other mothers because she didn’t want to look stupid and be made a fool talking to teachers who talked about school,” Beegle added. “How could my mother talk about school when she had no education herself?”