Carleton business students are living outside the Unicentre from March 9-14 to collect donations for a local charity and to raise awareness about homelessness.
Funds raised through the campaign “5 Days for the Homeless” are going to Operation Come Home this year, an Ottawa-based centre for homeless and at-risk youth aged 16 and up.
They aim to help individuals rebuild their lives and give them skills and knowledge to help them become employed.
“It does provide more than . . . just a shelter, more than a food bank. It really helps people actually get back on their feet,” Gillian Moore, co-chair of the organizing committee, said.
It is Moore’s first time participating in the event. She and four other Sprott School of Business students are going to be camping outside for five days and five nights.
They hope to collect cash contributions with a goal of $10,000, as well as food, clothing, and hygiene product donations.
“In past years there hasn’t been a lot of awareness that people can donate clothes and donate things other than money,” Moore said. “I’m hoping that we can donate more than just money. Meet our goal, and then some.”
By taking part in the event, Moore said she and the other participants want to expose students to the difficulties many homeless youth face.
The participants are not allowed to shower, leave campus, or live off anything but non-perishable food that is donated to them, and can only have a pillow and a sleeping bag.
The group dove in dumpsters to get cardboard to put under their sleeping bags.
The only time they are not outside is when they are in class or doing extracurricular activities, Moore said.
Adam Lopez is a first-year business student participating in the event. He said living outside for a week is difficult, but he said homeless youth live in more difficult circumstances.
“We’re obviously aware we’re not homeless. We have a home to go back to,” he said. “As badly as you think we’re living, people are living a lot worse than this and that’s who we’re trying to raise money and awareness for.”
Lopez said living outside has been “kind of brutal” but the cause makes the discomfort worth it.
“People are being really generous. If they don’t have money to give, they’re giving words of support,” he said.
Five Days for the Homeless started in Edmonton at the University of Alberta and became a national endeavour in 2008, according to the campaign’s website. The campaign has raised more than $1,212,000 for charities across the country.
