Teens Get The Chills
By: Cam Hall
During this last weekend, over 100 area teenagers from several area churches found out what it was like to be homeless. The teenagers were able to accomplish what they set out to do by setting up a youth camp at Mason Fielld, in North Attleboro, MA. In addition, the teenagers used assorted cardboard boxes of different sizes and wore several layers of clothes to prevent getting cold. The event took place during a weekend on November 10 and 11 of this year, with the sole purpose of raising awareness for the homeless and what they have to endure in their everyday lives.
All of the participants in the organization went into it with the determination and will to obtain $10,000 to help better the Attleboro Area of Council of Churches' Food 'n' Friends program, which gives to nearby food storage units. On the plus side, additional food storage units and organizations would also gain profits from the event, such as the Homes with Heart program, a number of nearby soup kitchens, and homeless shelters.
A number of the participants in this event were willing to share how they felt about the kind of experience they were going through during the event. One participant, a 16-year-old girl by the name of Catie Silva, a resident in Barrington, RI, said in her own words, "I think it was colder in the box than it was outside." Besides this statement, Miss Silva also said, "I woke up (during the night), and my face and feet were freezing." Silva, who has partcipated in this organization for three years, was accompanied by novice Abby Bushnell, a 15-year-old girl from the town of Rhehoboth, MA. Miss Bushnell explained about her present thoughts and feelings about what she was going through by stating that, "I never realized how much I needed until now. A mirror, money, running water...". Abby Bushnell also commented during the organization, stating that, "I've definately learned that even though someone doesn't look homeless, you don't know someone's life story until you experience it." These comments help to indicate how old and new arrivals in this organization might have felt about experiencing this kind of organization in their lives.
A number of people were appreciative of the youngsters' drive to help shine a light on homeless people and what they have to go through in their daily lives. The head organizer of this charitable happening, Don McClain, stated that, "The teens are so excited to be here. It's something that effects their lives, and how they view homelessness and hunger." In addition, Original Congregational Church's youth leader Heather MacAskill had great acknowledgement of the youngsters' determination in the organization whe she said, "They're a really amazing group of kids to give up the comforts of their home and spent two nights in a cardboard box." It is easy to think that a great number of people responded in similar ways to the youngsters' drive in this organization like the way in which McClain and MacAskill did, based on what the youngsters did during the organization.
Despite having to make it through cold evening temperatures - which decreased to a mere 34 degrees at 1 in the morning - and resting in multiple-sized cardboard boxes, the participants made it through this organization with flying colors, and were more than happy to take part in this happening. If only a big number of young kids and adults today would be willing to participate in charitable events like this one to raise awareness for serious kinds of situations that are going on in the world and help to fix the world, as a whole, in doing so.
Works Cited
Cosentino, Judee. Teens get dose of cold reality. Attleboro - North Attleboro, Mass: The Sun Chronicle, November 11, 2012. Print.
No comments:
Post a Comment