A portion of this article was posted with written permission from Christina Pullano, Editor-in-Chief, Pipe Dream.
Habitat for Humanity raises the roof on Binghamton University campus
By Garrett Shor/Pipe Dream
Using just cardboard, paper and duct tape, students worked to create a new form of housing on the Peace Quad.
The Binghamton University chapter of Habitat for Humanity held a Shack-a-Thon on Oct. 20 where dozens of participants from nine different teams competed to design the best temporary home using recycled materials.
Groups from the Campus Climate Challenge, the Binghamton Scholars Program and multiple fraternities each chose different designs such as a rocket ship themed shack, an eco-friendly building adorned with trees and solar panels and a tent structure with a basketball hoop named the “love shack.”
Dana Mirro, a sophomore double-majoring in financial economics and biology, said that the event gave participants a better understanding of the difficulties of homelessness.
“This shows us how challenging it can be to live like this,” Mirro said.
Throughout the afternoon, the groups remained on the lawn to build and personalize their projects with symbols from their respective organizations, as well as raise awareness about homelessness and lower-income housing.
“Habitat is a great organization. We can come out for a couple of hours to get the word out and get people to understand how there are homeless people living like this in a first-world country like ours,” said Michael Polvere, a member of the Tau Alpha Upsilon fraternity and a sophomore majoring in economics.
Of the 300 observers who judged the designs, Theta Chi’s “Love Shack” won the most votes and a $150 prize. Galen Merigliano, a member of the group and a junior majoring in environmental science, said that the event was not about the reward.
“We’re giving back the money because we don’t really need it,” Merigliano said. “I like Habitat’s mission and we’re always looking for events. It’s good for team building and helps us get to know our pledges.”
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