April 27, 2015
For Immediate Release

By Kasey Ricketts, student news writer

CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. — There are many people who do not have the luxury of having a place to call home. Campbellsville University's Social Workers in Touch Can Help (SWITCH) club held its annual Cardboard Nation April 24-25 that helps raise awareness and money for the homeless population in the area.

“Cardboard Nation was an event to help involve the local community in the local homeless shelter,” Heather Sabo, a student from Campbellsville, Ky., said.

The participants of this event experienced what the homeless go through every night with sleeping outside in cardboard boxes, going through a soup line and using a campfire for warmth. Cardboard Nation was held at the Alumni & Friends Park, Noe Plaza.

“Cardboard Nation is just a glimpse of what homeless people may go through when sleeping outside at night, and having little food,” Autumn McKinley, a student from Somerset, Ky., said.

There was also a band performing, speakers, awareness displays and games.

The SWITCH club provides the boxes and, based on the donation given, determines the size of the box.

“We, as a club, went around to local businesses and asked for donations of any kind,” Sabo said. “We got food donations for the event as well as money funds for the shelter. We also sold T-shirts to help raise additional funds for the cause.”

Campbellsville University students Autumn McKinley, president of SWITCH, from Somerset, Ky., Jennie Crum from Campbellsville, Ky. and Kim Davis, director of social work at Green River Ministries, put together a box for Davis to use as her “home” for the night. (Campbellsville University Photo by Kasey Ricketts)

The money that was raised, which hasn't been determined yet, goes to Green River Ministries, the local homeless shelter in Taylor County. “All the money we have are from donations and fundraising at events like this,” Kim Davis, director of social work at Green River Ministries, said.

According to the Green River Ministries website, it is a place “dedicated to meeting the needs of our community by providing shelter within a Christian environment and linking people and services together.”

The Green River Ministries does more than just give a place for the homeless to stay.

“A lot of people don't realize we are a lot more than just a homeless shelter,” Davis said. “We also do things like putting on workshops to help people with resumes and interviews. We provide clothing and even have a cosmetologist come in to help prepare them find jobs,” she said.

Campbellsville University is a widely acclaimed Kentucky-based Christian university with more than 3,600 students offering 63 undergraduate options, 17 master's degrees, five postgraduate areas and eight pre-professional programs. The website for complete information is campbellsville.edu.