Equipped with sleeping bags and cardboard boxes, UW-Madison students slept under the sky and on the concrete of Library Mall Wednesday night to draw attention to issues of homelessness and the struggles faced by many who live near the poverty line.
Members of Wisconsin Public Interest Research Group and UW-Madison Habitat for Humanity participated in the event, which is affiliated with the National Student Campaign Against Hunger and Homelessness. NSCAHH estimates 3 million people in the United States are homeless each year, and organizers of the UW-Madison sleep-out say their event aims to draw attention to this issue.
\It's about education and empowerment to use the means you have to stand up and make change,"" said UW-Madison sophomore and WisPIRG intern Lauren Czaplicki.
""We get to go home to our warm dorms and apartments and a lot of people don't get to do that,"" said UW-Madison senior and WisPIRG intern Emily Larson.
Allie Wenzel, a UW-Madison junior and Habitat for Humanity community awareness co-chair said many people have misconceptions of who is homeless, and said there is a growing number of homeless teenagers.
Wenzel and her co-chair, UW-Madison sophomore Todd Swartzloff, planned to spend the night with sleeping bags but no pillows.
""I guess homeless people don't have pillows either,"" Swartzloff said.
WisPIRG interns Uyenthi Tran, a UW-Madison sophomore and Emily Miota, a UW-Madison senior, wrapped themselves in colorful blankets as they prepared to spend the night outside. Both said they felt lucky the weather was relatively mild and had an appreciation for the situations homeless people face.
A band named Space Invaders entertained a crowd of approximately 30 sleep-out participants and onlookers Wednesday night. Travis Bird, a UW-Madison sophomore who plays guitar and bass for Space Invaders and is also involved in WisPIRG, said he planned to try to sleep outside without a sleeping bag, blankets or a coat.
""I'm going to try to do it in as little clothing as possible,"" Bird said, indicating the sweater and pants he was wearing. ""What's interesting to me is that so many people sleep out like this every night.""
The sleep-out event was part of National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week. Some of the week's other events included a panel discussion Monday night and a hunger awareness banquet today.
