Solid foundations
Zak Balmuth-Loris doesn’t mind living in a shack.
After all, it’s for a good cause. Balmuth-Loris, and more than 150 students from 12 groups on campus, will construct and stay in shacks on the Quad for three days to raise money for the Syracuse/State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry chapter of Habitat for Humanity.
‘It’s surprisingly fun building the shacks, being involved in it, living in them,’ said Balmuth-Loris, the director of advocacy and education on Shack-a-Thon’s executive board and a junior biomedical engineering major. ‘You get to live on the Quad for a couple days. How often do you get to do that?’
Starting at noon on Tuesday, the green grass of the Quad will be hidden by 12 wooden shacks, the product of Syracuse/ESF’s second annual Shack-a-Thon event.
The shacks, which will resemble a child’s playhouse, will be on the Quad until approximately noon Thursday. The event is designed to raise awareness, and eventually money, for a house that Syracuse/ESF’s Habitat for Humanity group is constructing in the downtown area. The Syracuse Habitat chapter completed a similar house last year on Tully Street.
The Shack-a-Thon will conclude on Thursday with a press conference featuring Sukema Cook, the woman living in a Habitat house on Tully Street.
‘Shack-a-Thon is a cross-cultural, cross-campus activity where different organizations come together to build little shacks in order to raise money and awareness for affordable housing, especially in a town like Syracuse, where it’s in desperate need,’ said Balmuth-Loris.
Twelve student organizations will have shacks on the Quad, which they can decorate. One group last year put shingles on their house and other groups have painted their houses.
Aside from decorating, students living in the shacks will also participate in various activities to bide the time, said Andrew Stikovac, a sophomore political science and public relations major, and the event’s organizations coordinator.
‘We want to make a shack community, not a bunch of kids in their own shack not doing anything,’ said Stikovac. ‘We want them out on the Quad so when students come by they can say, ‘Hey what’s up?’ and actually learn about the event. The more they see the better, we think.’
On Tuesday night, there will be a benefit concert featuring local Syracuse band, Sophistafunk and Akuma Roots. The concert is free for those living in a shack, and everyone else can see the concert for $5.
Participating organizations range from the Panhellenic Association and the Architect Student Association, to DanceWorks and the First-Year Players. Each group must raise $1,000 for the cause by February. Last year’s event raised more than $10,000, and they hope to raise at least $12,000 this time around.
The money raised will go to the ‘Habitat House’ currently being constructed on Elliott Street. The house will be the second student-funded, student-built and student-sponsored house organized by the Syracuse chapter of Habitat. The planned house will be one story, and contain a living room, a kitchen, three bedrooms and a bathroom. The recipient is chosen from a pool of applicants.
‘The house costs us $60,000 to build,’ said Balmuth-Loris. ‘The owner gets a huge discount, but they have to put in 300 plus hours of work. It’s not like a charity, we’re not giving away a free house. The difference is, with Habitat, they have to work for it and they still have to pay for it.’
The Syracuse Shack-a-Thon was inspired by a similar event held at the University of North Carolina. Then-Syracuse Habitat Director Brian Spendley took the idea to SU last year.
After the event, the shacks are disassembled and given to Youth United, a group that mentors high school students interested in Habitat, who then pass them on to disadvantaged families.
Published on October 5, 2009 at 12:00 pm
Contact Lorne: lefulton@syr.edu
