This report is addition to Charley’s turnover report.
Some things to remember:
Publicity:
• We needed more than we had this year. I believe we made 150
flyers and there just were not enough up. Most people do not know
what Shantytown is so its important that there are a lot of explanations
as to what is going on! This is a fine line because Shantytown does
not bring in any money so we do want to spend too much. (Do not tape
flyers to the ground! We will be charged 100 dollars). When
you are putting up flyers in the dorms make sure you have permission first.
• Look into radio time. We had some this year on 107.1.
This is a great idea just because so many people are always listening to
the radio. Ask around, chances are you will know someone who knows
someone on the radio. This year Roxi knew someone and Matt did also.
• DI awareness is good too. We just got a small blurb in the
DI, but there was a good article written up about Shantytown afterwards.
• CHALK THE QUAD!!!!
• Talk to channel 3 about air time. They did a segment on us
this year.
• Make sure you call all shelters and let them know what is going on
and let them know that they are welcome to come and we would like them
to come. In addition to this the night of its not a bad idea to walk
up and down Green and invite homeless to come and partake in the nights
activities.
• We made an information sheet at Shantytown this year so people that
are attending can know what they are talking about. This way the
bad publicity is at a minimum. I put a copy of this in the binder.
• We also did shout-outs this year in the DI. Those are effective
if you get enough people to put them in the DI.
Speakers:
We used Kathy Sims from the Center for Women in Transition. She was wonderful. I strongly recommend her again. The number there is 352 7151.
Tom Shields is also a possibility. He was used last year and went over really well. He is also an invaluable resource for all of Shantytown. If you have any questions ask Tom.
A lot of the guys that came from the shelter (T.I.M.E.S shelter, McKinley
foundation) spoke to people to about their real life experiences which
really added to the night.
***MAKE SURE YOU GET THE SPRINKLERS TURNED OFF********
Entertainment:
We only had guitars this year. We didn’t even have Frisbees and such. There has been criticism of Frisbee type thing in the past so I would lean away from that. The guitars/cards ect worked excellent. We had a great night with out them.
This year after the speakers we also tried a new thing. We got
into discussion groups and talked about the issues at hand. When
we did this people from the shelter were also in the groups so they were
very interesting to talk to. There is a copy of what we used in to
binder.
Shanties:
The building of them is not too complicated. We used skids and just started taping them together with duct tape. See the pictures I have enclosed in here! We had 20 skids donated from Meijer and found about 5 more. We still could have used more. So I would go for about 30 skids next year. For the cardboard, we used about 80 huge sheets from Lay – z – boy . I strongly recommend using them again. They were very helpful. FYI!!! Have a big car for transporting the skids and cardboard. I went with my Honda accord and they basically laughed at me. When the night is over all of the garbage (skids, cardboard, ect) goes in the huge dumpsters to the right of the union. We used 7 rolls of duct tape for the night. Also, bring a battery-operated alarm clock to wake people up for the different shifts.
Quad Space:
Get it early!!! We moved Shantytown up a month this yr and it worked well so it will probably stay the end of September, so you need to get the space very close to the beginning of the year. You are also going to need a car permit to have the car on the quad. You get this in the Illini Union bookstore, the entrance on the far right off of Wright Street. Its room number 320.
Get the McDonalds big coolers for hot chocolate. Also make sure
that you have a table to put all the food and drinks on.
Donations:
Get ahold of Meijer for the skids and for a 50 dollars donation for things like extra cups, napkins, duct tape ect…
Laz – y- boy for the cardboard.
Panera for the bread! They will give you a ton.
This year we got the soup donated from Jack Collins and the university dinning services. This was incredibly useful! They donated the soup, crackers, bowls, napkins, and spoons. This makes life a lot easier for you because otherwise you are going to have to make a ton of soup during the afternoon and also find a place to make all of the soup.
Shirts:
This year we got long sleeve orange for 8.75 and sold them for 10. They said Habitat for Humanity Shantytown ’99 on the front and on the back it said “I was shacking on the quad. Where were you?” We got 30 and they all sold. We used Project Te for the shirts. The best way is just to call around and find the best price. Clear getting shirts with the board.
If you have any questions let me know! I will be around next yr!
