The following is a list of some of the activities our organization is involved with:

Students volunteer on Saturdays every week from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. at the Habitat houses, lovingly referred to as "work sites." Students learn the basic carpentry skills while having fun and making new friends. The families that will live in the house, called "Partner Families," often work on both their own house and the houses of others. Students get to know these families in the community, and it helps build ties between the university and the community.

One recent addition this year is that students are able to board a PARTA bus that takes them to the work site project. This will last for the rest of the 2003-2004 school year. Any student will be able to board the bus and join us at the work site.

Every Monday and Tuesday, our members sell candy in Bowman Hall from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. The funds raised are put toward our annual trip to New York during the first week of Summer Break. While in New York, we participate in the Collegiate Challenge by volunteering at work sites there.

This annual event is when members sleep outside for a night in a cardboard box. It is based on the concept of "walking in someone else's shoes." The overnight program lets our members experience what it is like to be homeless for a night.

This year's Sleepout was held on Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2003, in the Risman Plaza on Kent State's main campus. The event began at 8 p.m. Tuesday and lasted until 9 a.m. Wednesday. We began something new with this year's Sleepout. We are asked people to sponsor members at hourly rates. For example, you can sponsor a member for $1 an hour, and if that person stays all 11 hours, you would pay $11.

See photos of the event

Read about the event in the Stater: Homeless for a Night and Homeless night offers a different perspective

This year marked the first annual Kent State Community Service Day, which was held on Oct. 25, 2003. Working with Kent State's Undergraduate Student Senate, Circle K and Golden Key we helped to provide a multitude of community service projects for students.

• Build a Habitat house with us
• Clean up Mogadore Resivoir with Circle K
• Volunteer at HarvestFest with Circle K in the M.A.C. Center

In 2002, our organization sponsored a Habitat house on South Water Street in Kent, Ohio. This was a great achievement for our group because our chapter was chosen among all the other chapters in the state to receive a sponsorship grant.

The house was completed and dedicated to the family in January 2003.

Since then, our organziation has helped construct and complete a house on Prospect Street in Ravenna. And, currently, we are working on two houses simultaneously, both of which are on Freedom Street in Ravenna.

For more information about where our Habitat houses are in the area, please e-mail habitat@kent.edu.

Meetings are held every Tuesday at 8:30 p.m.
in Room 313 of the Student Center

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