‘Cold’ and ‘successful’ were two words used by volunteers at this year’s Homeless-A-Thon event. The Homeless-A-Thon, an event organized by University of Wisconsin-Platteville’s Zeta Beta Chi sorority, helped raise donations for the Habitat for Humanity Foundation.
At 11 a.m. on Nov. 1, current and prospective members of ZBX lined up in front of the designated sorority house at 590 West Main St. in their cardboard box homes, donated by Weygant’s Appliance and Mattress store. They then camped in the donated boxes for at least the required number of two hours per person for the following 24 hours.
“It was unbearably cold and windy but totally worth it,” Hannah Diederich, freshman elementary education major, said.
The 26 members who participated collected a total of $969.76 for Habitat for Humanity.
This is the fifth year ZBX members have raised awareness and money for the Habitat for Humanity Foundation.
“It was definitely a success this year considering the economy is doing so poorly, and little to no money goes into putting on this event,” Sarah Goree, senior buisnes administration major and ZBX president, said. “It’s 100 percent all profit for the cause.”
The ZBX sorority is an actively involved charity and service provider to local and global organizations. ZBX fundraising chairperson and senior biology major, Nicole Ruchotzke, organizes and plans all service and fundraising events hosted by the sorority. The Homeless-A-Thon is one of six service and fundraising events put on by the ZBX members.
“There was no official financial goal during the event,” Ruchotzke said. “We just all appreciated any generosity that the people would give.”
For more information on Zeta Beta Chi events, visit the ZBX homepage at uwplatt.collegiatelink.net/organization/zetabetachi.