stephanie
03-30-2008, 02:02 PM
Seek to raise awareness of homelessness
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Stang students set up their cardboard-box shelters Saturday for a chilly
night under the stars to raise awareness of homelessness.
DAVID W. OLIVEIRA/Standard-Times special
By Jennifer Lade
Standard-Times staff writer
March 30, 2008 6:00 AM
DARTMOUTH — It's 6 p.m. on a Saturday night. The temperature is hovering in the 30s, and the wind whips across the unprotected athletic fields at Bishop Stang High School. There are no sporting events going on, save some pickup football and a game that involves throwing washers into a hole. But more than 100 students, dressed in bulky layers, have congregated on the field, amid rows of cardboard boxes covered in tarps.
They are about to start their night in Cardboard Tent City.
Stang students are homeless for the nightArea bankruptcies on the riseLight at the end of the tunnelDeath NoticesOverride to be decided TuesdayEaster eggs foundThree contested races in Dartmouth They are allowed a box, a tarp, a pillow, a blanket and a sleeping bag. They can't make any trips back to their cars — everything has to be carried in at once.
Junior Kelsey Collette runs through the list of what's not allowed.
"Cell phones, iPods, food. All we're allowed to have is the clothes on our backs."
Adds junior Sean Racine, "It's really humbling from what I've seen so far."
The Homeless Awareness program is in its third year at the Catholic high school. The purpose is to heighten students' awareness of the plight of the homeless and help raise money for Catholic Social Services, which supports homeless shelters in Greater New Bedford and Fall River. Each student is required to raise at least $50 toward the cause, though many exceed that amount, said organizer Sarah Sahm, an English and religion teacher at the school.
It also helps juniors and seniors log community service hours, which are a requirement for graduation. The school helps the students with the requirement, offering 12 to 15 events throughout the school year.
"This is the option for the tough ones," said Jackie McCarthy, a Spanish and French teacher at the school who helped to organize the event.
Ms. Sahm said students and faculty understand that the event, which lasts about 15 hours, can't compare to what homeless people have to face daily. But students can still get something out of the experience.
"It's just more to raise awareness of (homelessness) and to suffer a little bit," she said.
read the rest..
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080330/NEWS/803300363/-1/news
Text Size: A | A | A
Print this Article Email this Article ShareThisPhoto 1 of 3 | Zoom Photo +
Stang students set up their cardboard-box shelters Saturday for a chilly
night under the stars to raise awareness of homelessness.
DAVID W. OLIVEIRA/Standard-Times special
By Jennifer Lade
Standard-Times staff writer
March 30, 2008 6:00 AM
DARTMOUTH — It's 6 p.m. on a Saturday night. The temperature is hovering in the 30s, and the wind whips across the unprotected athletic fields at Bishop Stang High School. There are no sporting events going on, save some pickup football and a game that involves throwing washers into a hole. But more than 100 students, dressed in bulky layers, have congregated on the field, amid rows of cardboard boxes covered in tarps.
They are about to start their night in Cardboard Tent City.
Stang students are homeless for the nightArea bankruptcies on the riseLight at the end of the tunnelDeath NoticesOverride to be decided TuesdayEaster eggs foundThree contested races in Dartmouth They are allowed a box, a tarp, a pillow, a blanket and a sleeping bag. They can't make any trips back to their cars — everything has to be carried in at once.
Junior Kelsey Collette runs through the list of what's not allowed.
"Cell phones, iPods, food. All we're allowed to have is the clothes on our backs."
Adds junior Sean Racine, "It's really humbling from what I've seen so far."
The Homeless Awareness program is in its third year at the Catholic high school. The purpose is to heighten students' awareness of the plight of the homeless and help raise money for Catholic Social Services, which supports homeless shelters in Greater New Bedford and Fall River. Each student is required to raise at least $50 toward the cause, though many exceed that amount, said organizer Sarah Sahm, an English and religion teacher at the school.
It also helps juniors and seniors log community service hours, which are a requirement for graduation. The school helps the students with the requirement, offering 12 to 15 events throughout the school year.
"This is the option for the tough ones," said Jackie McCarthy, a Spanish and French teacher at the school who helped to organize the event.
Ms. Sahm said students and faculty understand that the event, which lasts about 15 hours, can't compare to what homeless people have to face daily. But students can still get something out of the experience.
"It's just more to raise awareness of (homelessness) and to suffer a little bit," she said.
read the rest..
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080330/NEWS/803300363/-1/news