Students ride out wet weather

Members from the Indiana Public Interest Group and other students weathered the severe thunderstorm and slept in a fort structure made out of cardboard boxes and plastic tarp early Tuesday in Dunn Meadow.\nWednesday morning, the students cooked a hot breakfast at the Shalom Community Center in the First United Methodist Church. \nINPIRG is a student organization whose mission is to create a better society while protecting the public interest and guaranteeing that student's voices are heard, members said.\nThe sleep-out and breakfast were part of INPIRG's campaign to raise awareness of hunger and homelessness in Bloomington.\n"A lot of college students feel that they live in a bubble, which shelters them from the realization that hunger and homelessness are a problem in this community," said Mike Huge, campus organizer for INPIRG. "The sleep-out was a wake up call for us."\nBloomington Chancellor Sharon Brehm, one of the three speakers at the sleep-out, told the students they were displaying citizenship and empathy with people in their community by sleeping outside in the terrible weather conditions. \nThrough spiritual generosity, the students were able to identify with people from a different walk of life and project themselves into the life of someone who is homeless, Brehm said. \nSteven Koehler, director of Salvation and Michael Reinke, executive director of United Way also spoke at the sleep-out.\n"Food and shelter are basic necessities of life," Koehler said. "It's the American dream."\nMore than 250 meals are distributed in local soup kitchens every day, and more than 100 people will find a bed in local shelters every night, Koehler said. \nAbout 10 students and members of INPIRG stayed the entire night in the collapsing fort, yet a steady stream of people visited the sleep-out and donated used or unused bedding. After the boxes collapsed, members from the nearby Peace Camp offered one of their tents to the students.\nA total of 25 pillows and 40 blankets were given to Shelter Inc., which has five facilities in Bloomington and houses up to 30 single adults and 12 families. \n"On Tuesday, 28 people spent the night at Shelter Inc. That should put into perspective how badly they needed donations," said senior Angie Thomas, hunger and homelessness campaign director for INPIRG.\nIn the morning, the students prepared a breakfast of scrambled eggs, sausage, biscuits, bagels, pastries, cereal and orange juice for people at the Shalom Community Center. Bloomington Bagel Company donated bagels, Cappuccino's donated the pastries and Kroger and Marsh grocery stores donated the rest. \n"These students really roughed it when they spent the night in the rain," said Donna Jacques, director of the center. "Then, they came here early this morning to cook this wonderful breakfast. It says a lot about their character and their organization."\nAbout 50 people passed through the center Wednesday morning for breakfast, Jacques said. \nPeople at Shalom Center usually get a much smaller breakfast, said Gary Stevens, a volunteer at the center.\nThe center, which also offers lunch, has a hot breakfast made by local churches, student groups and volunteers about once a week, but they rarely have sausage and biscuits because they are not donated often, Jacques said.\nINPIRG will continue the campaign to raise awareness of hunger and homelessness in Bloomington during the week of November 11-17, Thomas said. Members will hold various events throughout the week, such as a "PB and Jam Day". Student will make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for people while one or two bands play in the background. Donations will be taken for the Shalom Community Center.