| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 10/14/05
CONTACT: Christy Grimes (Christy.Grimes Greenville College Students Camp Out on Scott Field to Raise Awareness of Homelessness GREENVILLE , ILL. – After an informational meeting, 109 students participating in Shak-a-thon received their cardboard boxes and headed out to Scott Field to set up camp. These students remained outdoors for the next two nights, fasting all meals, and giving up the luxuries their fellow students enjoy. Sponsored by the Greenville College chapter of Habitat for Humanity, this event happens once a year in the fall to raise campus awareness about the everyday hardships faced by homeless people worldwide. This year student leaders added a fundraising component to the activity soliciting college and community members to support Habitat for Humanity. The mission of Shak-a-thon is to raise an emotional, social and physical awareness of homelessness and substandard housing and funds in partnership with Habitat for Humanity for its eradication, giving Greenville College students, faculty, and staff an opportunity to experience it first-hand. Student c-coordinator Danny McMaken defines the intentions of the event. "Shak-a-thon is an opportunity to ‘rough it' outside for a couple of days underneath some cardboard,” said McMaken. “It is obvious that we cannot recreate the actual desperate conditions of homeless life and we are not claiming to. When you are giving up your claim to adequate housing, steady meals and modern luxuries you are declaring your support for over one billion people around the globe who are trapped in inadequate housing, starvation and marginalization.” Greenville College is a four-year accredited Christian liberal arts school with more than 1300 traditional undergraduate, graduate, and adult degree completion students. Founded in 1892 and affiliated with the Free Methodist Church, the college is located in Greenville, Illinois, 45 miles east of St. Louis. Last updated: October 19, 2005 |
