Document Type

Press Release

Publication Date

5-11-2011

Abstract

Lawrence University’s Main Hall green will undergo an “extreme makeover” May 14-15 when 15 teams of students representing various campus organizations construct temporary homes as the college celebrates its 10th “Shack-a-thon.”

The annual event serves as a highly visible fund-raiser for the Greater Fox Cities Area Habitat for Humanity chapter, pitting the creative design and engineering skills of teams of Lawrence students against each other as they build makeshift shacks from donated and salvaged materials on 10-foot-by-10-foot plots near Main Hall.

Construction begins Saturday afternoon and the shacks will remain up until mid-morning Sunday. At least one member of each team will be required to spend the night in the shack. Monetary “votes” can be cast for favorite construction jobs by contributing to donation jars located by each shack.

Drawing on elements from the popular animated movie “Up,” the theme for this year’s Shack-a-thon is “UP, UP and AWAY!,” symbolizing a move away from poverty housing. Each shack will feature balloons as decorations. A screening of the movie “Up” will be shown on the Main Hall green at 10:30 p.m.

In conjunction with Shack-a-thon and in keeping with the theme, organizers also are sponsoring a raffle for a hot air balloon ride for two provided by Bums in Paradise in the Fox Valley. Tickets, at $5 each, 3 for $10, are available in the Warch Campus Center.

“Shack-a-thon is our biggest fundraiser of the year, but is also a great tool for promoting awareness and advocacy for a plight that includes many families right here in the Fox Valley,” said Meg Bonham, current co-president of Lawrence’s student chapter of Habitat for Humanity.

The first Shack-a-thon was held in 2002 and since then Lawrence students have raised more than $25,000 on behalf of the local Habitat for Humanity chapter. In October 2007, Lawrence partnered with J.J. Keller in co-sponsoring the construction of a four-bedroom Habitat for Humanity home on the northeast side of Appleton.

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