Written by Celeste Cuellar
11/15/2020
Our yearly fall fundraiser, Cardboard City was a magnificent success! Cardboard City is an annual fundraising event that sheds light on substandard housing and homelessness. Participants raise money prior to the event. Typically, on the night of, teams spend the night constructing a home out of cardboard while participating in games, activities, and discussions about homelessness. This year with the COVID-19 pandemic, adjustments needed to be made to prioritize each individual’s safety and health. Cardboard City over Zoom was no less than a grand event thanks on a large part to our fundraiser coordinator, Audra Logan. While the process of planning and making sure the night ran smoothly was a bit stressful according to Audra, she comments that, “Our E-Board and members really stepped up to the plate and worked really hard fundraising! Habitat never fails to impress me with their witty humor of dad jokes and amazing ability to help others!”
Building Cardboard homes over Zoom and discussing the relevance of homelessness with our members was enlightening. Thousands of people often have to spend the night outside with nothing but cardboard and little shelter. COVID-19 has impacted housing all over the country, just as it has affected everything else. “Very little is known about how they are faring in part because the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development — the main federal agency overseeing homeless programs — has not required its national network of providers to gather information on infections or deaths.” This is why organizations like Habitat are still building today.
Raising money for our affiliate, we’re able to help curb this problem by having all proceeds go to Habitat for Humanity of Eastern Connecticut. The evening consisted of playing our collaborate Cardboard City playlist, building cardboard homes, and sharing paper plates awards at the finale! Congratulations to our paper plates winners, Raina for winning most creative house, Haley and Yasmin for winning most enthusiastic, Nicole for winning most resourceful, Emily and Ashley for winning most detailed, Sarah for winning most delicious, and lastly, Kylar and Angelina for winning most resourceful! In total, Habitat raised over $700 this year for our affiliate, and we couldn’t have done it without every one’s hard work and dedication! Thank you to all our members, donors, and supporters for another year of an excellent Cardboard City!