C-U at Home’s 2015 One Winter Night
This year’s goal was $100,000, and that goal was met with help from volunteer box-dwellers and their respective organizations. Among those participating in the event was the Urbana High School chapter of the National Honor Society, lead by Spanish teacher Michael Braden and English teacher Felicia Tufano, along with seven student NHS members. The students spent 6 hours in the cold (about 30 degrees), taking donations from passer-bys and generous offerings of food and drink by volunteers.
“[I gained] enhanced empathy for those who have to sleep in those conditions every night…the cold really got to you,” said Braden, who spent the full 12 hour night outside. “I definitely want to repeat it. Some students wanted to spend the whole night… There was a lot of enthusiasm amongst the juniors that went especially, so we’d love to make that happen for next year.”
Senior participant Penny Xu agrees, saying, “Although staying outside for 6 hours in the cold didn’t sound too appealing, I really enjoyed the whole experience- setting up our own cardboard house, learning from the speakers, and displaying signs for donations. I will definitely do this again.”
As a participant myself, One Winter Night was an experience I would repeat in a heartbeat. For many of us, homelessness is something we see in the streets, donating a dollar here and there as a small acknowledgment of the problem. “Experiencing it”, although with the comfort of knowing we were able to go back to our warm homes after our shift was through, was eye-opening to say the least. For city-dwellers like ourselves, we have a duty to be aware of our surroundings, and involving ourselves in events such as this one expose you to that type of understanding. I, as well as a majority of the volunteers, highly encourage participating in One Winter Night.
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