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.”
According to Maria Ortiz, the president of BU’s Habitat for Humanity chapter and a senior double-majoring in political science and Spanish, the event was designed to raise awareness about the organization and low income housing. According to the United States Census Bureau, 16.5 percent of Broome County lives below the poverty threshold.
“All of these people are curious and I’m glad people can stop by. A lot of the groups asked their friends to come down and show their support, so they added to the response,” Ortiz said. “We’re just trying to raise awareness for people living in poverty across the United States.”
Three members of the local chapter board of Habitat for Humanity and Amy Winans, executive director of the Broome County Habitat for Humanity, said that she was happy to support the student body.
“It’s always a pleasure to work with students,” Winans said. “They’re an underestimated force in the community and we couldn’t do what we do without their energy and skill set. It’s good for us to have a chapter on campus; it provides a tremendous link for us and our voice is represented on campus.”