12:42 p.m.
ALACHUA COUNTY - The Alachua County Coalition for the Homeless and Hungry and the City of Gainesville/Alachua County Office on Homelessness are hosting "Homeless Night Out and Service Fair" on the Downtown Community Plaza on Wednesday, November 7, 2007. The Homeless Service Fair will be 3:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m., with dinner 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. Homeless Night Out will be from 6:30 p.m. - 12:00 a.m. The event is designed to provide direct services to the homeless and to raise awareness of the plight of those who are homeless or hungry in the area.
Nearly 1,000 students from organizations from the University of Florida will participate in the event by serving food to Alachua County's homeless community. The coalition of student organizations has been coordinated by University of Florida student liaison to the County Commission, Dirk Sampselle. Sampselle organized a donation competition for the participating students.
The Office on Homelessness will be awarding Alpha Tau Omega, the winner of the competition, with a plaque for their helpful donation contributions. Other participating student organizations include Delta Gamma, Chi Phi, Alpha Omicron Pi, Sigma Chi, Gamma Eta, Kappa Alpha Psi, Kappa Alpha Order, and Habitat for Humanity. In addition to handing out the goods they have donated, students will be meeting and greeting the homeless, serving food, and helping to connect the homeless with various service providers at the event.
In speaking of the event Sampselle said, "I believe that the key to social change is social participation. This marks an important step in the evolving relationship between University of Florida student organizations and the homeless community."
Click on the link below to view the schedule of events:
To view the media advisory sent out by Alachua County Coalition for the Homeless and Hungry, Inc. & The City of Gainesville/Alachua County Office on Homelessness, click the following link:
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