A green castle-like building standing tall in the Brickyard reads, “follow the yellow brick road, dorothy needs a home.” The wooden structure doesn’t stand alone. Its surrounded by members of the Ben Franklin/ Park/Jefferson Scholars Organization and 15 other shack-like buildings. Returning students may be familiar with this scene — its the time of the year for Shack-a-Thon.
Monday was the first day of Shack-a-Thon, an annual event that NCSU Habitat for Humanity organizes to raise money and contribute to eliminate poverty housing. Each shack was decorated with statistics about poverty and included games and other activities to grab students attention and encourage them to donate spare change and dollar bills.
Jon Weaver, a senior in mechanical engineering, said the idea for Shack-a-Thon originated several years ago, but the first year consisted of only one shack. He said each year more campus organizations expressed interest in the event, and it gradually grew.
Minimal space and campus safety policies don’t allow for more than 16 shacks, so a bidding system was created, starting at $100 for organizations who wish to participate, according to the NCSU Habitat for Humanity Web site.
The Web site said the 11 organizations with the highest bids get a shack along with the NCSU Habitat for Humanity and the top four fundraising groups from the previous year. The site also said it is required that someone is present in each shack at all times, and two people are required to spend the night for personal safety.
“This helps set the mindset of what it’s like for someone to live in a house with no running water and no electricity, and there are plenty of villages that look just like this,” Weaver said. “We have also been told that if we leave the shacks unattended, the homeless people from Hillsborough Street will probably try to sleep in them.”
Molly Widmyer, a junior in biomedical engineering, said that restaurants such as Jimmy John’s, Krispy Kreme, Little Caesar’s Pizza and Farmhouse Pizza have generously provided food for volunteers running the shacks and sleeping overnight.
She said building supply companies also supplied wood to help build the shacks.
By spending 24 hours a day for a one straight week, NCSU organizations hope to collect at least $25,000, Weaver said.
Due to the large amount of money that State donates to the Habitat for Humanity each year, Saturday workdays are guaranteed, according to Weaver. She said these workdays give students an opportunity to volunteer and help build houses for underprivileged families in the Wake County area.
“Every little bit counts. We are raising over $20,000 in change, and that’s amazing,” Weaver said. “The thing that I always say is, if every undergrad student donates $1, then that will be $32,000, and we’ve never come that close, which is absolutely ridiculous.”
Unfortunately, it hasn’t been that easy, Widmyer said, but each year students come out with a positive outlook and hope to raise as much money as possible. She said the Ben Franklin/Park/Jefferson Scholars Organization, who earned the top bid this year with $1,105, made their shack theme-based to help attract people to come over and make donations.
“Our theme is the Emerald City, so we will dress people in costumes and we will also hold our meetings here,” said Kalli Hulse, a sophomore in industrial engineering and arts applications.
Jay Vigen, a junior in civil engineering, said another idea that organizations hope to be beneficial is the remote broadcasting system set up by WKNC 88.1. He also said this allows them to broadcast to the station so more people will hear about Shack-a-Thon.
He said the broadcast also includes guest interviews and live music.
“We are going to have acoustic performance, and grab bags including CDs and other random goodies are being rewarded to any student that donates $1 or more to the WKNC shack,” Vigen said.
