A settlement of cardboard houses sprung up in the Morton Hall parking lot Saturday night as Ohio University students and area residents gathered to raise money for the Athens County Habitat for Humanity. -
said Vitale, a junior studying finance and sales.
The Athens Habitat for Humanity teamed up with the Habitat for Humanity OU chapter and Pi Kappa Alpha (Pike) to host the fundraiser, called Cardboard City.
The event raised about $7,000 to go toward building a Habitat house that will be named for the OU chapter and the Pikes, said Cita Strauss, a member of Athens Habitat for Humanity and event organizer. It takes $30,000 to start building a Habitat house.
Habitat for Humanity does not give people houses; participants make mortgage payments and help in the building process. The average mortgage for a Habitat house is about $75,000, Strauss said. - so we saw this as a great thing for us said Mills, a senior studying marketing.
The Pikes' cardboard structure emulated their College Street fraternity house and stood several feet away from a 10-foot cardboard castle.
After working with Habitat for Humanity in the past, a group of pre-med students took advantage of the opportunity to raise money for the organization, said Brion Sims, a member of the group.
It's only one night
Sims said. It's a lot more fun than I thought it was going to be.
Athens Mayor Paul Wiehl and OU Dean of Students Ryan Lombardi spoke at the event. Both emphasized that one should not take the privilege of having adequate housing for granted.
To see something like this come together between the campus and the community makes it even more special
Lombardi said.
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Yonry Zhu and Billy Mitchell, eighth-graders at Athens Middle School, make a coin shaped door for their cardboard house.
