Living homeless in Sussex County
SPARTA — Family Promise of Sussex County and Pass It Along held their 5th annual Box City fundraising event last Friday night at Sussex County Technical School in Sparta. Geared toward high school age students, Box City aims to raise awareness about local homelessness by providing an evening of educational tools and also simulating a homeless experience by spending the evening outside in an overnight box.
About 75 participants including high school students, young families and some business professionals constructed their boxes on the softball field at Sussex Tech. Afterwards they ate a soup kitchen dinner with food donated by Manna House, Chatter Box Restaurant and the Bagel Station.
On the agenda was a service project where the group filled 1,000 bags of toiletries to be later distributed to Family Promise, Birth Haven, D.A.I.S.Y. and Samaritan Inn. The evening proceeded with guest speakers including two homeless individuals and Sante Bus founder and Executive Director Dr.Jean-Paul Bonnet.
Students had to pay a registration fee of $25, and executives were asked to raise $250 in sponsorship donations.
Seventeen-year-old High Point High School student Alex Chrysanthopoulos who heard about the event from his social studies teacher filmed portions of the evening for his media tech project: “I believe it’s important to get the word out about homelessness, because people don’ think it’s happening here.”
Unfortunately, the heavy rain that came down that evening flattened all the outdoor boxes, and the event had to be moved inside due to safety issues. Family Promise Executive Director Julie Schuldner believes in some ways the end result was even more real.
“Everyone was sleeping in rows with no privacy, it was really simulating a shelter. Some of the kids were disappointed they couldn’t sleep in the boxes, but there was a lot of positive feedback from them that it was a worthwhile experience.”
Everyone still received a t-shirt that read, “I spent the night in a box. Would you?”
For more information: www.passitalong.org or www.helpnjhomeless.org