Brock students active in community

From the time the doors of Brock University opened up to the time they closed on March 6, five Brock students simulated a homeless environment to help raise money for Community Care, a local outreach program.
Set up on the Canadian Tire Bridge, connecting Taro Hall and the Students' Centre, Kerri Lyn Grainger, Mandy Balaen, Courtney Dobias, Christina Mottola and Devon Rogers sat in their makeshift tent and lawn chairs, flagged down anyone who passed and relayed information about their cause and collected donations, both monetary and non-perishable food items.
Simulating a homeless lifestyle on the bridge rather than outside initiated a slight loss of impact to some, but the students wanted to access and approach as many people as they could.
"We considered it," said Balaen, referring to hosting the event outside. "It was the image we wanted to go for, but not many people will want to walk outside when it's this cold."
While conducting their cause inside may have tainted the scene, allowing themselves to eat only if people brought them food certainly made up for it.
The Event in the Tent idea was spawned from a class project for the Brock students, and choosing Community Care as their foundation was no accident.
"We wanted to focus on something that was important in the community," said Balaen.
"We also wanted to do something drastic," said Mottola. "We really wanted to make a point and have something that would make people want to stop and talk."
Word of mouth was not the only way to create awareness, as many people stopped and looked at the table that was set up, complete with Community Care's mission statement, goals and objectives and other pertinent information.
Nancy McIntosh, Community Care's Fund Development Officer, who was on hand during the day, helping the students relay information and ask for donations, was incredibly happy that her foundation was chosen.
"I think it's fabulous that they chose Community Care," said McIntosh. "After Christmas, Community Care is forgotten about, so [it's great] to know that the Brock students are thinking about us, we're thrilled."
Community Care, however, is not just about the homeless, and caters to residents in the Niagara region who need assistance, whether it be food, clothing or other types of help for those residents living below the poverty line.
"A lot of people who use the food bank actually live at home," said Dobias. "They just can't afford to pay the rent, keep their houses or buy groceries."
McIntosh's plea is a simple one, asking that people make contributions that to the individual are small, but to the organization make a huge difference.
"We ask people to think of us each time they go to the grocery store," said McIntosh. "If they put in that one item every time it would make a tremendous difference. We also ask they make monetary donations as often as they can."
While no official number was set in terms of total donations, the students were hoping to raise anywhere between $300-500, and surpassed their goal by tallying a total of $550.09.
Donations from a few pennies to $20 bills were all appreciated and accepted throughout the day, and a donation of any amount granted anyone who did so a chance to post their name on the wall with one of the 200 donation cards that were made up - all of which were used up by the day's end.
Regardless of the amount collected, the true goal of the day was awareness, and it was given, not just to those who passed by, but even to those hosting the event.
"It has really changed our way of thinking about [homelessness]," said Balaen. "We never realized how serious of an issue it was.