Murray State University Athletics
Racer Players Participate In 'Shack City' To Benefit Habitat For Humanity
4/22/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
For the last two nights, dozens of Murray State students, including members of the Racer volleyball and track and field teams, have braved the rain and wind while living in makeshift homes in the middle of the MSU campus to benefit Habitat for Humanity International.
"Shack City," as it was called this week, was located in the MSU Quad and was comprised of a total of 18 different "homes" made of cardboard, tape and tarps. Each home was built by a group of students who were first asked to raise at least $40 to donate to Habitat for Humanity, a nonprofit, nondenominational Christian housing organization which builds simple, decent, affordable houses in partnership with those who lack adequate shelter. The students then spent two nights in their temporary homes as a part of the fund raising activities.
In all, nearly 100 people, including members of the 2003 Ohio Valley Conference volleyball champion Racers, along with several companies and businesses from all over Murray were directly involved in this week's fund-raiser, which raised over $1,200 in its first year at MSU.
"We were really excited to be involved and help support such a good cause," said MSU volleyball head coach David Schwepker. "Our players really took the initiative on this, and they had a lot fun with it. We're really pleased with how everything went, even with all of the bad weather."
The event was sponsored and organized by MSU's Fund Raising Committee, and with the success of this year's event, they hope to host similar fund-raisers twice a year in the future.
According to their web site, Habitat has built more than 50,000 houses with families throughout the United States and another 100,000-plus houses in communities around the world since 1976. Now at work in 92 countries, they are building a house every 26 minutes.
"This was a program and an event that our players really wanted to be a part of," Schwepker said. "We took this opportunity very seriously, and I'm extremely happy that our team was so involved with such a positive program."
