The WT Alliance is partnering with other student organizations at West Texas A&M University to host the 11th consecutive Shack-a-Thon/Give-A-Goat fundraiser, a student event on campus to raise funds for people who have suffered from a natural disaster. The event kicks-off at 8 a.m. on Wednesday, April 24 on the east lawn near Old Main and concludes the following day. There will be a special program at 7 p.m. on April 24 at Old Main.
Shack-A-Thon begins with piles of cardboard and wooden pallets collected then used by students to build shacks for their night’s housing. The lawn fills with makeshift forts constructed by different student organizations, and as building concludes, the students live in their shack until 8 a.m. the following morning. Participants and non-participants are invited to view the constructions and engage in discussions about the fundraising cause.
Christians and non-Christians alike sympathize with victims of war and natural disasters. Over recent years, the Kenyan region of Turkana has become home to hundreds of thousands of refugees from drought stricken Somalia and war-torn Sudan. The WT Alliance partnered with the Christian Relief Fund (CRF) of Amarillo from 2009 to 2011 in an effort to help people in Southern Sudan. Now, for the eighth year in a row, they are working with CRF to help the people struggling in Turkana.
Milton Jones, president of CRF, has visited the Kenyan region several times. After dedicating a new water well installed by CRF, he watched as a group of orphans was left to fend for themselves under a tree near the well. He was initially frustrated that these children were left alone, but then, he realized that there was nobody to care for the orphans and a location near a well was much better than where they were. CRF planned to help these orphans by helping a local tribe learn to farm using the well and by building a school for the orphans.
Over recent years, WT students have helped CRF purchase a large number of goats for desperate peoples in Sudan and Kenya. This year, CRF looks to donate another large number of goats for the purposes of milk and meat to the people of Turkana.
The Give-a-Goat fundraiser encourages all WT Students, as well as residents of Canyon and Amarillo, to donate money towards the purchase of goats at $50 each. The fundraiser culminates at a climactic event named Shack-A-Thon. Every WT student is invited to participate in this unique poverty awareness event intended to help fundraise. To date, the event has raised about $240,000.
To make a donation, please visit the Give-A-Goat website at wtgiveagoat.com. If you would like more information about the event, please contact Kent Mereness at 806-655-2174.
-West Texas A&M University
