University of Guelph students take on national campaign
5 Days for the Homeless is a national campaign, founded as a local initiative of business students at the University of Alberta. The campaign was first taken national in 2008.
To date, the campaign has raised over $1 million for charitable organizations across Canada.
The University of Guelph has been a part of the initiative for 6 years. This year, the campaign was organized by the College of Business and Economics Students’ Association (CBESA), and is set to run until Friday, March 13.
Students are sleeping in Branion Plaza for five days and nights to raise money and awareness for the homeless across Canada.
“We have 5 enthusiastic and energetic business students who are braving the elements for 5 days and nights,” said Jonas Postons, Corporate Relations Manager for the CBESA. “Our goal is to create awareness for the growing problem of homelessness while simultaneously raising money for the Wyndham House charity in Guelph that works to combat youth homelessness.”
The Guelph faction of the initiative has a set goal of raising $10,000 this year. Sponsorship from Ford, Victoria Park East Golf Club, and the Cowan Foundation has helped to make this goal a reality, Postons noted.
Although the prospects of spending five days and nights outdoors may be daunting to some, the CBESA volunteers were happy to step up in support of such a great cause.
“I didn’t realize homelessness was such a big problem,” said Spencer Coetzee, a first-year Marketing Management major. “When I saw a number of homeless people in the downtown area […] I decided I wanted to get involved and help make a difference.”
“It seemed like a great cause,” said Sarah Douglas, a second-year Hotel and Food Administration major. “I just wanted to give back to the Guelph community before I go away next year on my co-op.”
Joao Rosa, a second-year Management Economics and Finance major, had similar reasons for getting involved.
“It is a good way to give back to the community and raise awareness to an issue that people don’t know a lot about,” said Rosa. “Not many people know that over 30,000 Canadians are homeless every night, and sleeping outside for 5 days is a good way to get a new perspective on things.”
Though the volunteers were excited to get involved with the campaign, their actual experiences with sleeping outdoors have been interesting, to say the least.
“It’s only been one night, but it’s been cold and it hasn’t been easy,” noted Coetzee on Monday, March 9. “You really don’t realize how much you have until you have nothing.”
“Being outside for long periods of time is something I haven’t really experienced before,” Douglas agreed. “Going to bed cold each night is a big change, and your body never really warms up.”
Despite these temperature setbacks, the overall experience has been rewarding so far for the volunteers.
“The experience so far has been awesome; the generosity of the staff and students has been second to none,” Douglas said. “Receiving donations of money and food has been good, and its great to see that people are open to the campaign and able to give whatever they can.”
Though this year’s campaign has already begun, there are still plenty of ways for students and staff to get involved with the 5 Days for the Homeless initiative.
“Aside from actually applying to be a sleeper in future years, we have a number of events going on throughout the campaign that students can participate in,” noted Postons, encouraging students to get involved in any way that they can. “The most important way students can get involved is by spreading the word and donating throughout the week. We would really like to hit our $10,000 goal.”
Interested parties can find more information, as well as a link to donate, at the University of Guelph’s link on the 5 Days for the Homeless page.