Wearing harsh labels stares hunger in the face

Usually people don't embrace labels like ``slacker" or ``addict."

But that's exactly what a Lawrence-based group called Labels Are For Jars did.

The group prints those terms and a few others on T-shirts that are placed inside a clear plastic jar with a coin slot cut into the top. The idea is to get people to put money in the jar and wear the shirts to combat the negative labels often associated with people who live in hunger.

The buyers also encourage others to fill the jar with donations, which are sent to Labels Are For Jars.

This week, the group announced that its efforts netted nearly $500,000. And that money will go directly to fund the new Cor Unum Meal Center opening in Lawrence on Saturday.

The group also got a big publicity boost from NBC late-night host Conan O'Brien, who attended a fund-raising dinner Sunday night and the next day helped dedicate the center's 5,600-square-foot facility, which will be staffed to feed around 250 people per meal.

Joining O'Brien on Monday was Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley, via videotape from Rome, commending Labels Are For Jars for battling hunger in the city.

``The world is going to change a great deal more for hungry people in Lawrence in the years ahead because of the ministry of Cor Unum," O'Malley said in his address.

But the star of the afternoon was O'Brien, who was brought into the Cor Unum cause by the Rev. Paul B. O'Brien , pastor of St. Patrick Parish in Lawrence. The two men, who aren't related, were roommates at Harvard and have remained friends.

Conan O'Brien's visit was the second time in three months that a celebrity has come to the Immigrant City to raise money for charity. In July, ``Mr. Las Vegas" Wayne Newton and a 13-member orchestra performed a benefit concert at the Riverwalk Mills for the local Adopt A Patient Foundation, which works with children with muscular dystrophy and learning disabilities.

``Obviously, I get approached to do a lot of things and there's always a gray area," O'Brien said. ``Is this self-promotion or who are we really helping?"

Yet, when O'Brien said his friend explained the concept around Cor Unum, which means ``one heart" in Latin, he was convinced it was the right project to get behind. ``They're feeding hungry people in a community in Massachusetts where a third of the citizens are living below the poverty line."

Unlike typical meal centers, Cor Unum volunteers will serve food like a restaurant to families sitting at tables instead of standing in a cafeteria line. Father O'Brien said the idea behind the center is to have Lawrence's hungry eat their meals with dignity.

For Lawrence, the stakes are high. This majority-Latino city of around 72,000 has a per-capita income of $14,743 . The city has the highest teenage birth rate in the state, and nearly half of children live below the poverty line. According to Father O'Brien, an estimated three out of every four children are at risk for hunger.

Concerned residents started a committee to form Cor Unum in 2002. Last September, Cor Unum and Labels Are For Jars established a goal of raising $400,000.

``We are thrilled to have significantly surpassed our goal," said Mary Ellen Mills, a member of the Labels Are For Jars Central Committee.

Now that the center is open, Conan O'Brien vowed to return to the center to volunteer. Will he prepare any meals?

``You don't want that," he said. ``I can make tuna fish on toast. That's the limit of my ability. The center would shut down in about 15 minutes if I actually started cooking."

Cor Unum Meal Center will open at 4:30 p.m. Saturday for dinner and will serve meals Saturday, Sunday, and Monday nights.

Russell Contreras can be reached at rcontreras@globe.com.