The Dalhousie Commerce Society has participated in the 5 Days for the Homeless campaign for the past five years. Students volunteer to spend 5 days/nights outside the Rowe Building while only consuming food and drink that has been donated to them. The Commerce Society has set a fundraising goal of $25,000 and this year’s participants are as motivated as ever.
Alexandra Erb is participating in the 5 Days for the Homeless campaign as a ‘guest sleeper’, meaning she will spend a night sleeping outside the Rowe Building. This is Alexandra’s first time participating in the campaign, but she has had the opportunity to see how powerful campaigns like 5 Days for the Homeless can be through her four years of involvement with the Commerce Society’s community initiatives. She hopes this campaign will act as an “eye opener” to students who may have lost sight of the support system and privilege that Dalhousie has.
Breanna Buhler is participating as a ‘core sleeper’, meaning she will spend five nights sleeping outside the Rowe Building. Breanna is participating in the 5 Days for the Homeless campaign for the second time, she originally decided to participate after seeing the students outside the Rowe Building and across the country during her first two years at Dalhousie.
Katie Flanagan is President of the Dalhousie Commerce Society and is participating in the 5 Days for the Homeless campaign for the fifth year in a row as a ‘core sleeper’. Katie believes the biggest benefit to participating is raising awareness for a great cause saying, “by having people drop by we are able to help spread awareness for all the wonderful things Phoenix does”.
As a fifth time participant Katie has been passionate about this program for awhile. She believes this fundraiser helps put things into perspective. When asked about the challenge of managing classes while participating in this campaign, Katie talked about how some people do this everyday and how she hopes the 5 
Days for the Homeless campaign can raise awareness and funds to help those people.
Participating in the 5 Days for the Homeless campaign requires incredible strength and dedication; however, participants say it is worth it to help raise awareness and funds for a fantastic cause. It is because of the dedication of students like Alexandra, Breanna and Katie that Dalhousie has been extremely successful in awareness and funds totalling $25,000 over the past 5 Days for the Homeless campaigns. For more information on the campaign, a list of all participants or to donate click here or visit the students outside the Rowe Building until Friday March 16th at 12:00 pm.
