Five days, 10 people and cardboard boxes
By Brooke Tacker, posted 4/22/06

Starting Monday, April 10, 10 members of Mizzou’s chapter of Habitat for Humanity began literally living in cardboard refrigerator boxes on Kuhlman Court behind Brady Commons for a fundraiser called Shack in the Box. They were there through Friday, April 14, raising money to go towards an entirely campus-funded house. This fundraiser also raised awareness about the Habitat organization and got a lot of students involved.

The participants, who make up the leaders of Habit, were on Kuhlman all times of the day whenever they did not have classes or other prior engagements. Not only were they sleeping outside in cardboard boxes, but they were also relying on others for their food. The only way they ate was if others donated food to them.

“The worst part about living in a box was waking up in a box while 20,000 students are on their way to class in the morning. There is something incredibly awkward about waking up while strangers are watching,” Elijah Kerry, president of Mizzou’s chapter of Habitat said.

The monetary goal for this week was $5,000. The final count for the week was $4,100, but donations are still being accepted online at http://students.missouri.edu/~habitat4humanity/.

“I know that a lot of college students have a very tight budget, so I was enthused by the many very generous donations of both money and food throughout the week,” Kerry said.

This fundraiser is an annual event held during the spring. It is a way for the Mizzou chapter of Habitat to show substandard living conditions, one of the reasons why this service group exists in the first place. The Mizzou chapter is involved directly with the Columbia chapter of Habitat for Humanity and participates in Saturday builds once a month. They also are involved with many other Columbia service events such as Relay for Life and Homecoming.

Throughout the week, many events went on at Shack in the Box. There were daily games like frisbee or football and even a jello eating contest. Raffle tickets were also sold for $1 a piece and the drawing was held Thursday evening. Examples of items raffled off were pieces of furniture, a lawn chair and a radio.

This fundraiser shows an important part of Habitat’s purpose and is very reflective of their mission. They are trying to spread awareness of how housing is still needed for people in Columbia and also show how giving up a few days and nights of a comfortable bed and easy meals can prove a major point.

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