Bluff Park Methodist youth to camp out overnight, collect goods for homeless

Students at Bluff Park United Methodist Church will be camping out in cardboard boxes in the church parking lot overnight Thursday night to gain empathy for the homeless and collect goods for them.

The church youth group is asking the public to drop off items that homeless people might need between 5 p.m. Thursday and 7 a.m. Friday. That includes travel-size toiletries, nonperishable food, and new and gently used winter clothing, such as coats, gloves, scarves and rain gear, said Bart Styes, director of student ministries at the church. New underwear and socks also are requested, he said.

The goods collected will be shared with groups such as the Firehouse Shelter in downtown Birmingham and the Church of the Reconciler ministry of the United Methodist Church, Styes said.

The goal is not only to collect goods for the homeless before the cold winter hits but to raise awareness in the community about the needs of homeless people and help young people better understand what it's like to be homeless and to depend on others for your basic needs, he said.

"When we don't see people, we don't know what their life is like," Styes said. And most young people from the suburbs don't hang out in makeshift campgrounds or under bridges, he said. The executive director of the Firehouse Shelter is coming to talk to the students about the struggles that homeless people face, Styes said.

This is the second year the church youth group has done this, he said. Last year's effort netted a lot of contributions, but this year, some changes are in order, Styes said. Last year, a lot of parents dropped off a steady supply of food for the students throughout the night, and the students slept in tents, he said. This year, the students will sleep in cardboard boxes, and they won't have access to so much food, he said.

The students also will be sharing information with donors about the church's ministry to veterans to make people aware of what free services are available, Styes said. "We want them to know there's people who care," he said.

"We want to raise up a new generation of people in our community who care about the less fortunate," Styes said. "We want them to become adults and servants for the homeless for the rest of their lives."