Shantytown
Shantytown is an annual program co-sponsored by the Residence Hall Association and Habitat for Humanity. The program brings awareness of homelessness to residents of Western Kentucky University. It is traditionally held in early fall on the DUC South Lawn.
This year the program will start at 7pm Wednesday night and goes nonstop until 3am Thursday morning. Once the shanties are up, they are then judged, based on a criteria listed on the following page. Then halls and other student organizations will be recognized for their efforts and creativity.
We will take a break around 10pm, when there will be a speaker that will talk about homelessness in America. Then, the participants will have a few more minutes to finish their shanties. Judging will be announced later in the night.
Shantytown can be broken down in 3 categories- Shanties, Fundraising, and Canned Food Drive.
First the Fundraising:
We must inform you that we are not looking for door to door solicitations or forced donations, rather we are looking for donations from the kindness of the organization, hall or community. Money can be collected until Tuesday, October 21, 2008 at 6pm. The money needs to be in the RHA office by the end of the RHA meeting at 7pm. At that time we will count the money. The organization and hall who raised the most money will receive recognition at the Shanty building night on October 8th. We will take coins, cash and checks (written to WKU Habitat for Humanity). None of the money raised can be done so with University funds. This is due to a policy change with the University. So that means Halls cannot request money from RHA or take it out of their Hall Budget and Organizations cannot use the money they receive from the University.
Next the Canned Food Drive:
Canned food will be collected from 5pm-8pm on Monday, October 20, 2008 in the RHA office at the Housing Office in Southwest Hall. The contact for this will be Adam Canada, his email address is adam.canada@wku.edu. If you have any questions, email them or rha@wku.edu and we will get back to you as soon as possible. The food bank has requested no perishable items or ramen. Click here for Canned Food Item Points
Finally the Shanties:
Shanty building can start no sooner than 7pm on October 22, 2008 and must be completed by Midnight. There will be a break at 10 pm for the speaker. During this time there can be no building during this time.
Contents that hold up the shanties can only include cardboard and duct tape. RHA will be providing some duct tape for the halls. All other organizations will need to provide their own tape. Decorations are allowed but they cannot hold up the structure in any way unless they are made from cardboard.
The size and shape of your shanties is totally up to you, as long as it is large enough to hold all of the helping/participating members. It also cannot exceed the allotted area for your group or hall.
The shanties MUST BE TAKEN DOWN before your group leaves for the night. You must clean up after yourself. We will walk you through how to dispose of your boxes properly in the appropriate places. Not cleaning up after your group may result in forfeit of prizes and awards.
Coming up with ideas for fundraisers can be stressful, so after reviewing this section, hopefully you will have more ideas for raising money!
Some simple ways to raise money are: Penny wars, pancake and grilled cheese nights (which cannot be done with University funds), or different competitions between the floors in your buildings.
FOR MORE IDEAS EMAIL THE RHA E-BOARD AT RHA@WKU.EDU.
Several prizes will be given out over the night. The List of these awards are as follows:
“Clown Car Award”
Fit as many people as you can into the smallest shanty
“Last Man Standing”
Highest attendance at the end of the night
“Skyscraper”
Tallest Shantytown
“Best Teamwork”
“Best Overall Shanty”
“Hall Pride Award” or “Org Spirit Award”
“Big Red Award”
Best Western Spirit
“Happy Hobo Award”
Best Spirit for Homelessness Awareness
“Bonnie and Clyde Award”
Best Duo working together
“Pimp My Shanty Award”
Most accessorized shanty
“Mirror Image Award”
Best replica of something else
“Oddball Award”
Weirdest or Strangest Shanty
One set of awards for halls and one set for organizations
Rules
- Only cardboard and duct-tape can be use for the actual structure of the shanty.
- Markers, paint, and etc are allowed.
- No sabotage and no bashing!
- No copycats!!
- Electronic Devices will not be applied to the judging
- No bribing the judges… although flattery is accepted.
Start with this packet. Post flyers around your hall, make banners out of roll paper and talk it up among the other residents. Be sure to get approval from your hall director before putting signs up!
Next, start thinking of ways to raise money for Habitat for Humanity. Start with fundraising tips that are above and use your imagination. Sometimes the strangest ideas are the best! Be sure to utilize all your resources including your RAs, Hall Directors, RHA and the E-Board. Be sure to
Shantytown is cosponsored by:
