by jamijo

Created on: November 02, 2009

It is about 48 degrees today, a crisp fall day in this 'windy city'. As much as I hate to admit it, it will be winter soon. I can deny it and long to put on capris and tank tops, but the facts still remain: I broke out the sweaters, and the wool trench has resurfaced. Layering has gone from a matter of fashion and style to a means of insulation. I am cold, and I hate to be cold. My dramatic self would swear I was "freezing", that I have "never been this cold", but if memory serves me I have been this cold before; colder, actually. Understanding this time when I was cold will help illustrate why I feel that giving alms to beggars is a help and not teaching them to be lazy.

Back in college, I was a "joiner"; I was involved in very many extra-curricular activities, one being my residence hall's community council (the equivalent to student council in high school). We wanted to have a community service project for the residents of our building; something that would make an impact to those involved and for the cause. We decided that we would raise money for a local homeless shelter. But how? We needed a hook. It is one thing to sit somewhere with your hand out and collect change. We wanted to not only collect change, but create a change: change of mind, change of heart. So we had the bright idea that we would simulate homelessness right there in the middle of campus. We called it Box City.

For weeks leading up to the event, council members collected cardboard boxes-big and small. We even got hardware stores to give us duct tape. We were fortunate to have representatives from the homeless shelter come speak to us first hand. We advertised like crazy-seeing who all would come out to see "crazy college kids" sleep outside. And on the night of "the big chill", there were about 20 people signed up to sleep outside along with dozens more that came out to just show support.

For the first few hours, we built our "houses" from the scraps and materials we collected. Then we lit a fire to keep ourselves warm on this unusually cold October night. Individuals from the organization came and spoke to us about their issues with homelessness. These people were not crack addicts or psychotic killers (the typical ideal image). Many of them were people that hit a tough time and couldn't get out. Many of them had children and families, some had to be separated from that family. After that there was not much else to do but sit. We sat there and talked-how long we could last, what people

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