WINNIPEG, MB –Anne-Cecile Panchaud and fellow business student Isadora Draskovic are spending four sub-zero nights huddled under cardboard in The University of Winnipeg’s Quad to raise awareness and funds for homeless youth.
5 Days for the Homeless, Students Supporting Youth at Risk is a national initiative taking place on campuses across Canada this week, although it is the first time UWinnipeg’s Business Administration Students Association has participated.
For Panchaud, the first night was especially scary. “We stayed in the library as late as we could then layered up in clothes,” she says. “You get into this small space and it is scary, you hear noises. I did not sleep much. You realize how vulnerable it feels to be homeless, especially for a woman.”
Panchaud and Draskovic could only use found materials to construct a small shelter, consisting of cardboard and a pallet to sleep on. They stuffed recycled newspapers into the space to form bedding. UWinnipeg security guards are watching over the students at night.
Creating awareness about homelessness – staff photo
BASA is taking pre-orders this week at a table in Centennial Hall for UWinnipeg-branded mittens at $15 per pair. With a goal of $8,500, all monies raised by the UWinnipeg students will go to support programs offered at Resource Assistance for Youth, a Winnipeg street outreach and housing program.
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MEDIA CONTACT
Diane Poulin, Senior Communications Specialist, The University of Winnipeg
P: 204.988.7135, E: d.poulin@uwinnipeg.ca
