The Anderson University athletic campus was transformed into a cardboard village Sept. 18 and 19 as the university’s Baptist campus ministries (BCM) sponsored an overnight event replicating the homeless experience.
Participants in “Homeless for the Homeless” raised funds and awareness for homelessness in Anderson and surrounding areas.
The event, which attracted media attention throughout the Upstate, was part of a partnership with Family Promise, an organization committed to reducing homelessness for children and their families in Anderson County by uniting local congregations through an interfaith network to provide shelter, food and necessary tools for the families to regain their independence.
Once inside the “homeless village,” participants took part in informational activities on homelessness. The student Christian band Mosaic led in worship, and students from the “Luke 10 Project” shared their spring break missions experiences of living on the streets of Baltimore, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.
Students went without food until the next morning, when a South Carolina Baptist disaster relief team from Spartanburg prepared breakfast.
For BCM community team director Leann Bowen, the event was an opportunity for Anderson University and the community to “bridge the gap and come together as a whole to make a difference in the lives of the people we see every day.” – AU
