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RELEASED: Nov. 11, 2004
DANVILLE, KY—In an effort to raise awareness about important social problems, several Centre student organizations are sponsoring a week of activities that make participants aware of the realities of poverty and homelessness.
Centre's annual Poverty and Homelessness Week is Nov. 13-20. Activities will include a clothing drive, a volunteer effort at the Wayside Christian Mission in Louisville, Ky., a hunger-simulation banquet and a homeless sleep-out. A group will be serving lunch at the HOPE Center (a shelter in Lexington, Ky.), students will prepare and deliver meals to senior citizens unable to travel to Sts. Peter and Paul's soup kitchen in Danville and students will fast and the meal money they would normally spend will be donated to a world hunger relief organization. Numerous service opportunities will take place Nov. 20.
"Poverty is something we used to think of in a removed sort of way, that it only was a problem in third-world countries," says senior Becky Barrick of Danville, one of the organizers of the soup kitchen. "I value Poverty and Homelessness Week at Centre because it raises awareness that there are people in need everywhere, even right here in Danville."
A returning feature to Poverty and Homelessness Week is the homeless sleep-out sponsored by Alpha Phi Omega, a co-ed service fraternity. APO's members and pledges will camp out on the lawn in front of Old Centre starting Friday night from 6 p.m. until 6 a.m.
"Alpha Phi Omega has been doing box sleep-out for a number of years now and the main purpose of it is to raise homelessness awareness. We get a bunch of boxes and camp out on the front porch of Old Centre all night, rain or snow. We also take up donations and send the money to Wayside Christian Mission in Louisville," says senior Amanda Freeman of Feds Creek, Ky., president of APO.
"It's a chance for us who are much more fortunate than most to give something back and let people know that there is something we can do to help the homeless."
To learn more on these events, contact Trina McFarland, director of community service and new student orientation at Centre, at (859) 238-5479 or mcfarlnd@centre.edu. Also visit, http://web.centre.edu/studentlife/volunteer/index.html.
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Founded in 1819, Centre College is ranked among the U.S. News top 50 national liberal arts colleges. Centre alumni, known for their nation-leading loyalty in annual financial support, include two U.S. vice presidents and two Supreme Court justices. For more, visit http://www.centre.edu/web/elevatorspeech/
For news archives go to http://www.centre.edu/web/news/newsarchive.html.
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