Box City raises $1,000 for charity
Published: October 15, 2005
Students and staff at SIUE raised $1,000 for charity and brought attention to the plight of the homeless with their “Box City” event on campus Thursday night and Friday morning.
“It went really well. We had, at the high point, 250 people out there, and 50 to 60 stayed the night,” said Jeff Shepherd, a member of the Bluff Hall Council, which sponsored the event.
He said Vice Chancellor Narbeth Emmanuel stayed the night with the students and personally matched a $250 donation put up by the council.
The program is designed to teach students and staff at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and in the surrounding communities the lifestyles and hardships of the homeless, Shepherd said.
Participants “pay” for a box by donating $3 or two nonperishable food items to go to the Metro East Weather Crisis Task Force.
“The box becomes your home for the night. Many times, the boxes are customized by the owner with paint or markers and duct tape, as an essential for weather-proofing or combining boxes with your neighbors,” Shepherd said.
The event was held on the Stratton Quad. A “soup kitchen” was set up for participants to enjoy while they listened to speakers on the topic of the homeless.
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