Learning about homeless

By Staff Reports

Realistically, it is impossible to understand fully the plight of the homeless unless you actually are homeless. Nonetheless, the events during Hunger and Homeless Awareness Week at Winthrop University no doubt raised the level of empathy among those who participated.

The events were sponsored by Winthrop's Center for Career and Civic Engagement. The week started with a sleep-out Sunday, in which students spent the night sleeping in boxes on the Dinkins Student Center lawn. Events will continue through Saturday.

Sunday night on Dinkins' lawn was more than just a sleep-out. During the night, the Wesley Foundation at Winthrop presented a homeless vigil.

Students who fast today will help those without food. For all students who participate in the fast sponsored by Oxfam America, an international relief organization fighting poverty, Winthrop's dining services company will donate the cost of the meals to Oxfam.

During the fast, the Winthrop Cooperative Campus Ministries will present a hunger vigil from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. on the Byrnes Auditorium steps. A representative from the United Way of York County will talk about poverty in the Rock Hill area at 7 p.m. Thursday in Kinard Auditorium.

Students can donate canned food for local families struggling to make ends meet. Food can be placed in boxes in residence halls.

Students and members of the community can donate winter wear -- hats, gloves, scarves, coats and other warm clothing -- through Jan. 16. For details, call 803-323-3420.

These activities are designed not only to help the hungry and homeless, but also to help students better comprehend how widespread and intractable the problem of homelessness is. Events put a human face on the problem and show students that people from all walks of life are equally susceptible to finding themselves on the street.

It is reassuring that young people are willing to spend a night in a box and participate in vigils and other special programs this week. We suspect that even though their experience of hunger and homelessness was temporary, they have a better understanding of what it means to have no roof over your head and nothing to eat.