Come rain, high water or pollen, the brothers of the Phi Beta Sigma fraternity exposed themselves to the elements for an entire night to raise awareness for homelessness.

Sleep Out for the Homeless, which took place in the Humanities Amphitheater from Tuesday night to Wednesday morning, is a project that started on a national scale as part of this historical fraternity and has been present annually on The University of Tennessee’s campus for four consecutive years. The Kappa Chi Chapter of the Phi Beta Sigma fraternity hosted the event.

Jason Campbell, senior in mathematics and secretary of the fraternity, helped coordinate the event this year.

“We break away from reality for 12 hours,” Campbell said. “We leave the comfort of our own bed, televisions, cell phone and any electricity to raise awareness (of homelessness) and realize how blessed we are to have clean water and a home for our head.”

The brothers of this chapter sleep outside for a full night all the while raising money, clothing, non-perishable goods and awareness for the Knoxville Area Ministries for homeless people.

“I want people to understand that homelessness is not something to be taken lightly,” Campbell said. “We normally have a larger turnout because we have a cookout and games, but we didn’t want to make a mockery out of homelessness or use those things as a distraction from the real issue which is homelessness.

“Some people don’t have the same luxuries as we do and to break outside of our own reality for one night is eye opening and for a good cause.”

The annual awareness event is not for the faint of heart and happens regardless of weather conditions to truly attempt to understand homelessness.

“The most rewarding part of this event is definitely the completion of it,” Campbell said. “When morning rolls around, we’ll be tired and probably feel dirty, but we accomplish a goal and raise awareness towards a very important issue.”

All of the brothers participating in the event were grateful for the good weather but were even more excited about raising so many goods to give to the Knoxville Area Ministries.

“The highlight of this event is the way you feel when we give the donations collected throughout the night to Knoxville Area Ministries,” said Phi Beta Sigma member Xavier Andrews, junior in logistics. “Something as simple as canned goods can make people happy.”

To continue this fraternity’s efforts, students can still donate non-perishable items either directly to Knoxville Area Ministries or to the Phi Beta Sigma fraternity. The fraternity can be contacted at [email protected].