About 3.5 million Americans are likely to experience homelessness in any given year, according to research conducted by the Urban Institute.

In response to the growing number of homeless people, numerous non-profit volunteer organizations both on and off campus joined together to raise homelessness awareness as part of National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week.

One student group, Volunteer Illini Projects (VIP), devoted this past week to volunteering for a number of food and social service organizations.

"Most students live in a bubble," said Erica Johnson, VIP's Hunger and Homelessness events director. "It is really important for students to realize that the issue of homelessness takes place in our backyard."

During the year, VIP makes weekly visits to soup kitchens and other care centers.

This week, the organization held eight activities. Johnson organized an event in which volunteers constructed miniature cardboard houses on the Quad to educate, interact with and raise awareness among students. Other activities included visits to the Salvation Army, Center for Women in Transition, St. Jude's Catholic Worker House and the Transitional Initiatives and Men's Emergency Services Center (TIMES Center). VIP visited the center Thursday night to serve Thanksgiving dinner.

"If students are surprised by homelessness statistics, they should find a cause that they are passionate about and pursue it," Johnson said. "A lot of these people just need an extra push to transition out of homelessness."

In addition to food services, VIP's Arts Outreach program took part in activities that included craft-making for children at the Center for Women in Transition and will hold an instrumental performance for a Thanksgiving dinner at the Care Center in Champaign this weekend. A full listing of VIP's events can be found on their Web site.

Joyce Schmidt, program supervisor at the TIMES Center, said she is welcoming more student groups such as VIP to come in and volunteer.

"I think it is wonderful that student groups recognize the existence of a hunger and homelessness problem," Schmidt said. "There are a number of volunteer and journalism students that ask about the center. It speaks a lot for our future leaders."

Schmidt said she hopes the awareness week allowed more students to recognize the problem and one day, find a lasting solution.

"When students go home for break, I hope they discuss the issue with one another," Schmidt said. "I want them to talk about it with their families and their friends. Homelessness remains unresolved and there is no current governmental solution for this problem."

Last year, some students from Urbana High School held a Thanksgiving meal at the school for men from the TIMES Center. Because of a lack of food donations, the TIMES Center does not have anything planned for this Thanksgiving. Schmidt is asking people to bring in food items, particularly ham and turkey, and warm clothing if they want to make a contribution.

Habitat for Humanity's University chapter is considering donating food items to the TIMES Center. Along with previous donations, Habitat for Humanity has already built six homes in the Champaign-Urbana area. When not building houses, Habitat for Humanity volunteers hold fundraising events, work with the children from existing Habitat homes for their Best Buddy program, and raise awareness to students on campus.

During Thanksgiving break, the chapter will help out with another Habitat affiliate in Rockford, Ill. The 15 members involved with the trip have raised money to donate to the affiliate in order to pay for travel expenses.

"This is a great opportunity to do something in the community instead of sitting at home during break," said Habitat for Humanity Secretary Erica Marti. "Jobs range from painting, framing (houses), to mudding, which is a type of sheet rocking."

The trip will be the chapter's first Thanksgiving break trip, but they have yearly spring break trips helping other Habitat affiliates nationwide.

"Sometimes you go into these trips not knowing what to expect, but it turns out to be an amazing experience," said Marti. "You come home feeling that you have really made a difference."

King's Club, an ongoing urban ministry dedicated to children of underprivileged families, is another organization involved in donating Thanksgiving meals. The meals, called "Boxes of Love," are packages that contain a turkey, stuffing, vegetables, books, candy and other items. King's Club depends on a number of churches, organizations and clubs to donate and put together entire meals.

Anna Kim, coordinator for the Covenant Fellowship Church and senior in LAS, said her church joins King's Club for ministry purposes.

"We drop off these boxes at children's homes and pray with their families," Kim said. "I realized that there are many families who cannot afford groceries, and they only live a couple blocks away from us."

Kim said the Boxes of Love program has reached more than 230 homes in the Champaign-Urbana area. Kim said the families of those children who consistently come to King's Club and have an apparent need, will receive Thanksgiving dinners.

"I help out because I think it is good to share with others," she said. "If we did not help these families, they would not have been able to have a Thanksgiving dinner."

Not all social organizations hold activities during the awareness week or Thanksgiving. Instead of a Thanksgiving dinner, the Salvation Army, 125 E. University Ave., has begun to prepare for Christmas activities. For the next two weeks, members of the Salvation Army Church will collect grocery vouchers and toys to give away on Christmas Day.

Linda Shin, the Salvation Army social service director, urges students to volunteer year-round at different social services around town to gain a perspective on what hunger and homelessness is.

"You get a sense of what it means not to have food or a roof over your head," Shin said. "Though you may never know exactly what it feels like, personal contact with poor people keeps everything in perspective for me. You may think about homelessness for a week, but people have to deal with it daily."

Shin said students should take time to reflect on what they know about homelessness and take a step to participate in one of the activities held this awareness week and during Thanksgiving.

"Hunger and homelessness will not go away any time soon," Shin said. "But (aiding) homelessness is something that you cannot give up on. It is not just another issue — it is about people."