By Hannah Gordon
News Assignment Editor
Phi Rho, St. Bonaventure’s counseling honor society, will host its annual Hut-A-Thon this weekend to raise awareness about homelessness and mental illness.
This year’s event will be held today from 2 to 8 p.m., Saturday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Feb. 9 from 8 a.m. to noon. Students, faculty and staff are welcome to donate money at the hut, which will be located outside of Reilly Center.
Most of the donations collected will be given to Genesis House, a homeless shelter on Barry Street in Olean, said Mary Adekson, faculty advisor for Phi Rho and member of the counselor education department.
Adekson said the remaining money is kept by Phi Rho for yearly operational costs. Over the last seven years, the group has averaged about $600 in yearly donations to Genesis House.
During the event, members of Phi Rho will stay in the hut to sensitize themselves to the reality of homelessness during the winter months.
“This experience will let our Phi Rho members, myself and our officers have a feel for what the homeless usually feel in the cold without shelter, food and water,” Adekson said. “Members and officers, who are all masters-level counselor education students in the faculty of education, derive experience, empathy and expertise to counsel and work with the homeless when they graduate.”
Sydney Blicharz, president of Phi Rho, said she was surprised by the amount of donations Phi Rho gathered when she participated in the past.
“I participated in the Hut-A-Thon last spring during my second semester in the school counseling graduate program,” Blicharz said. “Donna Cummings, Phi Rho secretary, and I worked on a Saturday outside the Reilly Center in the hut. We asked passerbys if they wanted to donate. To my surprise, we had many individuals empty their pockets or give us the only dollar they had on them. The Genesis House really appreciates the St. Bonaventure community and our efforts to help them in any way.”
Phi Rho is the St. Bonaventure chapter of Chi Sigma Iota: The International Counseling Honor Society. Students that have earned a GPA of 3.5 or higher and are professionally sound to join Phi Rho are initiated every semester.
Phi Rho members have an important part in the Hut-A-Thon as they demonstrate the importance of homelessness and how the campus community can help with this issue, Adekson said.
“The role of Phi Rho members is to behave in a respectful and professional manner in their interactions with professors, fellow students and everyone on campus,” Adekson said.
