Dozens of students got a glimpse of homeless life and the Buffalo Jills when they called a pile of cardboard boxes home Friday night.
UB's Night Out for Homeless was presented by Alpha Phi Omega (APO), and 150 tickets were sold for the fundraiser, with all proceeds going to Habitat for Humanity.
Event co-chair Elizabeth O'Dell, a graduate student in the Department of Social Work and APO member, said the event was pulled together in four short weeks and was a success thanks to community participation and local business donations.
"We had a zero budget. I mean, I had nothing," O'Dell said. "I could not have asked for a better night."
APO already had comedians and local bands on the entertainment schedule when the Buffalo Jills turned up unexpectedly.
"We had a surprise when the Buffalo Jills showed up," O'Dell said. "I put in a request two weeks ago and I never heard anything back and then all of a sudden there's...white boots marching across the field."
O'Dell found local bands and comedians from ads on www.craigslist.org and myspace.com to fill the night with laughter and music.
Artists such as Yvette Bedgood, One and One, Paul Alguire and UB's own Royal Pitches provided entertainment. On-campus dance groups such as the Impulse Dance Force and The Pack performed to a small audience of students on a stage next to the Center for the Arts (CFA).
"There's a lot of different styles of acts going on so it's really entertaining for everybody," said Courtney Ricigliano, a freshman technical theater major.
Josh Smith, a junior undecided major known as the "Rated-R Rock Star," has been doing comedy for over eight years and performed at the event.
"For all things considered, it was a good set. The cold was impressive; I wasn't really feeling as if it was impacting me but I was kind of noticing, like, wow, there's my breath," Smith said. "It's a good place to cut your teeth because if you can make it at 12:30 a.m. at UB in 40-degree weather you can make it anywhere."
Smith put the environmental conditions aside to get a few laughs for a good cause.
"We have so many homeless," Smith said. "To do something for them we can... not be hypocritical and maybe level the playing field [and] redeem ourselves in society."
On the Special Events Field next to the Student Union, the limitations of cardboard met student ingenuity when a handful of shelters were crafted from the most basic building materials, duct tape and dozens of cardboard boxes.
For some, the reality of cardboard's delicacy came crashing down on their heads, literally.
"It's been an eye-opening experience. Our box kept collapsing and so it was really hard to keep our home upright," said Courtney Gehen, a sophomore political science major. "It's freezing. I've never had to stay outside like this."
Gehen and her fellow University Academy members made the best of her flattened home, spending the evening watching the stars and enjoying the entertainment.
"I think the lineup is really good," Gehen said. "I've enjoyed all the musical acts that have been up - especially the Royal Pitches."
According to Crysti Biltucci, a junior anthropology major, APO brother and Night Out co-chair, about 85 people attended the event. Night Out for Homelessness raised about $1,000, according to Biltucci, which is enough to get a Habitat for Humanity project underway.
Additional reporting by Stephanie Sciandra, Editor in Chief
