Local Students To Sleep Outside To Spotlight Homelessness
Similar to an event they did the last few years, a group of local students will spend a night out in a cardboard box to help raise awareness of homelessness in our area. Kids from Youth In Action will spend the night outside, November 15 at the Biwabik Pavilion - starting at 5:00 PM.
The evening will start as the students build the cardboard shelters they will sleep in. As the evening progresses, there will be discussions about the issue, blanket-making, the results of which will be donated, and other activities. Organizers of the event anticipate around 100 students - coming from the following Iron Range schools: Cherry, Chisholm, Ely, Eveleth, Hibbing, Mesabi-East, Mt. Iron-Buhl, Northeast Range, Northwoods, South Ridge, and Virginia.
Officials shared that a recent survey turned up 178 people as unsheltered in St. Louis County, however experts suggest that the actual number is much higher than that; obtaining a number count is difficult due to the large number of people who avoid shelters.
[The featured image comes from last years event.]