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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (April 7, 1997)
Students to sponsor blanket drive ■ BLANKET DRIVE: Today and Tuesday, blankets can be donated to help the homeless By Laura Baker Student Activities Reporter Although the days are getting warmer, and shorts and T-shirts are becoming more common around campus, the nights are still cold enough to question whether spring is really descend ing upon Eugene. The Jewish Student Union, Hillel and OS PIRG are sponsoring a blanket drive for the homeless today and Tuesday and will hand out the blankets Wednesday in the Mid night Run in order to help the homeless keep warm at night. “It’s starting to warm up now, but it’s still very cold at night,” OSPIRG coordinator Monique Dail said. “A lot of people don’t think about what a significant portion of our community is homeless and that these people don’t have the same things that we have provided for us.” The project is called Midnight Run because in larger cities, groups actually go out at mid night to give out the blankets. However, in smaller towns it is not feasible to find many home less people out at midnight, said JSU coordinator Jaimie Simon. Many go and hide due to the fact that they don’t feel safe wander ing late at night, so the groups are going out earlier. Before going to hand out the blankets, Terry, a former home less man who now works at First Place Family Center, will speak about his experiences as a home less person, Simon said. Simon said the blanket drive and Midnight Run are not only important because of the help they give to the homeless, but they also give the students and community a chance to come in contact with the homeless. “People often do homeless ac tion by going and serving in a soup kitchen, or not even as face to-face as that,” she said. “People give money or do food drives, but they never come face-to-face with what it’s really like to live on the streets. I think this enables us to have more real contact.” Simon said there are approxi mately 4,000 homeless people in the Eugene/Springfield area. Groups participating in the Mid night Run will be going out to churches and soup kitchens in both Eugene and Springfield that provide food for the homeless to give out the blankets and coffee. The groups will also go to parks and other areas where there are homeless people. “We’re hoping for at least 30 blankets to be donated, but we would like as many as possible,” Dail said. “Also, people offering their time to go give out blankets is help that goes a long ways.” Blankets can be donated at a table set up in the EMU Court yard from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. today and Tuesday. Coffee and the blankets collected will be handed out to homeless people Wednes day during the Midnight Run, which will begin in the EMU Ben Linder room at 5 p.m. Preparation for the big night WENDY FULLER/Emerald Takeru Yoshida and Ben Foo paint backdrops Sunday for Interna tional Night on April 12 in the EMU Ballroom. Tickets are on sale for $12 outside the University Bookstore. X, *£&!£&&»** ** /|£NfTM-‘ or fast relief from the nagging ache of taxes, we recommend TIAA-CREF SRAs. SRAs are tax-deferred annuities designed to help build additional assets —money that can help make the difference between living and living well after your working years are over. Contributions to your SRAs are deducted from your salary on a pretax basis, so you pay less in taxes now. And since earnings on your SRAs are also tax deferred until you receive them as retirement income, the money you don’t send to Washington can work even harder for you. What else do SRAs offer? A full range of investment choices and the financial expertise of TIAA-CREF — America’s largest retirement organization? To find out more, stop by your benefits office or give us a call at 1 800 8d2-2888. We 'll show you how SRAs can lower your taxes. Do it today — it couldn’t hurt. Visit us on the Internet at www.tiaa-cref.org Ensuring the future for those who shape it." ’Based on assets under management. CREF certificates are distributed by TIAA-CREF Individual and Institutional Services. Inc For more complete information, including charges and expen: call 1 800 8*12-2735. ext. 5509, tor a current CREF prospectus. Read the prospectus carefully before you invest or send money Date ol first use. 2/97. A Eugene to Hong Kong $695.00 Tax not included. Other rules and restrictions apply. Discounted fares for Europe and Asia now in!! Stop by and visit your Student travel experts at 1200 High St. visit our web page at: www.allwaystravel.com or E-mail us at: uo@allwaystravel.com A COFfEL llOUSL rJ Tit EiEZTtANl TCADITI^ Relax And Study In Our Living Room Atmosphere The Old Parodiso Is Back! No More Music During The Week To Better Suit Your Studying Needs! •PE.LMUM W/iN£.6 •M!CR.0&2L.\Vi> (M TAP •Ex?AEP <TAMLi OPU\ TILL N/pP^iJT J Of 0LIVC. £, &R<?ADV\/AY S » 484-9933 « 3 icuuxa. coihl Check out the OPE CLASSJFIEPS for all your needs
