It was -9 degrees on Sunday where I live. As in NINE degrees BELOW zero. Luckily for me, I had the luxury of cranking up the heat in my place, throwing on a ratty letter sweatshirt over my jammies, and snuggling down on the couch under a big blanket for the day, never venturing outside. But for the over half a million people that are homeless in the United States, heading inside to avoid the winter cold isn’t an option. And that’s the issue that members of Alpha Tau Omega at Western Michigan University are trying to raise awareness about.
Chapter members are participating in a forty-eight-hour campout on their Kalamazoo campus. The temperature for the event, which kicked off Tuesday, is forecasted to drop to as low as 8 degrees tonight and reach a high of 36 tomorrow. But the campers are unfazed; they have even given their event, officially called “Campus Campout,” a tagline: “Freezin’ For a Reason.”
And that reason? To raise awareness and funds for the local chapter of Habitat for Humanity. Last year’s event raised $2,500 and the chapter is hoping to hit the $3,000 mark this year. “Alpha Tau Omega has been involved with Habitat for Humanity with our event Campus Campout for the last 16 years,” said Moritz Cherubin, ATO’s philanthropy chairman and event organizer, was quoted as saying on the organization’s website. “We continue to do this event to continue to show our support of Habitat for Humanity and the great Kalamazoo community. As part of the Kalamazoo community, we want to give back and help make this a better place for all. By camping out, we are able to raise awareness about the great work Habitat does for the community.”
Other organizations are pitching in as well, with the sisters of Sigma Kappa dropping off hot chocolate to help keep the guys warm. If you want to help out, you can make a donation here and mention Alpha Tau Omega in the notes.
[via WWMT]
Image via Twitter
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Jenna Crowley
Jenna used to be known as 2NOTBrokeGirls, but then one of the girls actually went broke, so she's struck out on her own. Jenna spends her free time saving the world, one sorority girl at a time (usually while wearing yoga pants), questioning why she decided to get a doctorate, and documenting her love of all things cheese related. You can ask her anything you want about football, using your boobs to get what you want, and pizza at @JennaLCrowley on Twitter or via email at JennaLCrowley@gmail.com.
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