In an attempt to hear the voices of the homeless in the Iowa State and Ames communities, a number of ISU students working with the St. Thomas Aquinas Student Center will participate in a sleep out south of the Campanile this week.

Organizers are anticipating between 50 and 60 participants will each average nine to 10 hours at the sleep out, which will take place from 6 p.m. Wednesday to 6 p.m. Thursday.

All students are encouraged to stop by the sleep out to offer their support and to raise awareness.

Donations of money and nonperishable food items will be accepted at the site of the sleep out, and all proceeds will fund the Emergency Residence Project in Ames, a shelter that provides a haven for individuals and families in need.

Participants will partake in various activities during the sleep out, including discussions with ISU students.

Manuel Martinez, senior in aerospace engineering and sleep out participant, said students often overlook homelessness in Ames.

“This environment makes it easy to forget that there are people in need,” he said. “On this side of campus, we don’t see [the homeless] very much.”

When the St. Thomas Aquinas Student Center held its first sleep out for homelessness last year, response from the ISU student body was motivating for sleep out participants.

Despite heavy snowfall, about 40 students took part in last year’s event.

Christopher Kipp, senior in exercise and sport science and pre-physical therapy, is one student who volunteered his time in last year’s sleep out.

Kipp said last year’s snow drove home the idea of what it was like to be without warm shelter.

He added that many students who dropped by offered coffee and hot chocolate to help warm the students.

Even some homeless people in the Ames area visited to share stories with the students, he said.

“It really makes you realize that there is a much larger problem than what we actually see,” Kipp said.

Students who are interested in participating in the sleep out should contact Manuel Martinez at 296-5947 for more information.