2008 Woodie Awards
Homeless Vigil Raises Money and Awareness
Ethan Moore
Issue date: 4/28/06 Section: News
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So… how many people in the United States are homeless? Two thousand? Two million? Twenty million?
Joni Podschun knows that most Hendrix students have no idea of how many commas are in this number. Which is the reason why she stepped up and coordinated this year's Homeless Vigil for Campus Kitty.
"I think the most important thing about the Homeless Vigil is giving visibility to homelessness," Podschun said. "People don't know about the homeless situation in Conway, or Faulkner County, or Arkansas as a whole."
This year's Homeless Vigil asked students to participate in a recreation for twenty-four hours from four o'clock on Tuesday to four o'clock on Wednesday. They also requested cash donations, as well as for donations of goods, such as canned goods, infant products, female products, and hygiene products.
Podschun stressed the uniqueness of Homeless Vigil, saying that it is "different from other Campus Kitty events in that it is geared towards community and student involvement. The other events, like Red Light Revue and the Auction, are entertainment events: Homeless Vigil tries to encourage student awareness and interaction."
Because of the student participation that she wished to create, Podschun focused on trying to incorporate "education events or programming" into this year's Vigil.
"Tuesday night we had a speaker named Sharon Cole, a woman who was formerly homeless, come speak to us about her experiences, along with Judi Lively, who is from the Bethlehem House (an organization that is geared towards providing the homeless with transitional housing). On Wednesday, Hope Colter from the Arkansas Hunger Coalition spoke about the situation of lack of food, and near the end of the Vigil, we had a panel discussion focused on homelessness with Judi Lively, former Hendrix student Jessica Bridges, and Anne Goldberg, a researcher of the homeless in Phoenix, Arizona."
Perhaps because of these new educational events, the Homeless Vigil raised $1600 dollars for this year's Campus Kitty, an increase of more than six hundred dollars over last year's total of $950.
Joni Podschun knows that most Hendrix students have no idea of how many commas are in this number. Which is the reason why she stepped up and coordinated this year's Homeless Vigil for Campus Kitty.
"I think the most important thing about the Homeless Vigil is giving visibility to homelessness," Podschun said. "People don't know about the homeless situation in Conway, or Faulkner County, or Arkansas as a whole."
This year's Homeless Vigil asked students to participate in a recreation for twenty-four hours from four o'clock on Tuesday to four o'clock on Wednesday. They also requested cash donations, as well as for donations of goods, such as canned goods, infant products, female products, and hygiene products.
Podschun stressed the uniqueness of Homeless Vigil, saying that it is "different from other Campus Kitty events in that it is geared towards community and student involvement. The other events, like Red Light Revue and the Auction, are entertainment events: Homeless Vigil tries to encourage student awareness and interaction."
Because of the student participation that she wished to create, Podschun focused on trying to incorporate "education events or programming" into this year's Vigil.
"Tuesday night we had a speaker named Sharon Cole, a woman who was formerly homeless, come speak to us about her experiences, along with Judi Lively, who is from the Bethlehem House (an organization that is geared towards providing the homeless with transitional housing). On Wednesday, Hope Colter from the Arkansas Hunger Coalition spoke about the situation of lack of food, and near the end of the Vigil, we had a panel discussion focused on homelessness with Judi Lively, former Hendrix student Jessica Bridges, and Anne Goldberg, a researcher of the homeless in Phoenix, Arizona."
Perhaps because of these new educational events, the Homeless Vigil raised $1600 dollars for this year's Campus Kitty, an increase of more than six hundred dollars over last year's total of $950.
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