This charity event was started by business students from the University of Alberta in 2005. Their mission was to generate awareness about homelessness, raise monetary donations for local charities around the country and to change the image of business students. During this event, student participants are "homeless" for five days in early March, in hopes of achieving these goals.
5 Days for the Homeless (5 Days) takes place over a 5 day and night period, commencing at 5:00pm on Sunday, March 6th and concluding at 5:00pm on Friday, March 11th. Five University of Regina students will spend five days and nights living essentially as homeless people on the University of Regina campus. Throughout this event, participants forgo the use of common necessities such as showering, basic grooming, and shelter. The public must donate the food that is consumed by the participants. The mission of our 5 Days for the Homeless campaign is to raise awareness about homelessness in Regina and collect monetary donations for Carmichael Outreach. In 2015 we had a goal to raise $26,000 for Carmichael Outreach, we were able to surpass our goal and raise over $30,000! In 2016, we are determined to make the campaign the biggest success yet and top our donations from the previous year. Our 2016 goal is to raise $35,000!! We will also be collecting clothing and house items to donate to Carmichael Outreach, as well as food for the Regina Food Bank. The Carmichael Outreach Center helps our city by providing services and supplies to those in Regina who need it most. They offer harm reduction services, health education programs and counseling referrals. This non-profit organization also provides emergency food and baby supplies for up to 400 people each day. 5 Days for the Homeless helps to raise funds for this extremely deserving organization, as well as provide education to students about the severity of homelessness, especially among youth. Throughout the week, large events and press conferences will be held to increase awareness about homelessness in our community, and to help with the fundraising efforts.
