This Sunday, students can camp out for the Duke-North Carolina game in a new location—Chapel Quad.
An interfaith effort has brought J-Ville, or justice tenting, to campus to raise awareness of and simultaneously volunteer for the homeless. Students who inform their line monitor can receive tenting credit for K-ville by sleeping out in front of the Chapel, an act that Father Michael Lasky believes will bring attention to the issue of homelessness.
The idea for J-Ville stemmed from a desire to highlight Social Justice Day, which falls on Feb. 20. The issue of homelessness was chosen from a variety of poverty-related social injustices.
“It’s an issue that is right in front of us, but oftentimes we fail to see it,” Lasky said.
Each night of the four day program beginning Feb. 16 will feature speakers at 10 pm, as well as a project benefitting the homeless community. The following morning, a group of students will serve food to low-income and homeless individuals at various organizations in the community. Partners include Genesis Home, Durham Rescue Mission, Housing for New Hope, Interfaith Hospitality Network and Urban Ministries.
“We believe that in good social teaching, there are really two foot prints, one footprint being social outreach, the other being social justice,” Lasky said.
He described social outreach as being direct contact with and service of a marginalized community, while social justice focuses on raising awareness around the systemic issues underlying social problems.
Students will engage in social outreach by making blankets, food bags and hygiene kits, giving a concrete sense of purpose to the event.
Lasky is not concerned about weather except for Sunday night, when temperatures are expected to drop below what is required to call grace in Krzyzewskiville.
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