On Wednesday evening, the UA Community Service Center will be hosting Sleep Out on the Quad to promote awareness for hunger and homelessness.

At 8 p.m., student volunteers will begin packaging more than 10,000 meals for Stop Hunger Now, an international agency that coordinates food distribution to children and families in countries around the world. At a cost of 25 cents each, the dehydrated meals can be stored for long periods of time.

“Stop Hunger Now primarily ships its meals to support school feeding programs, but also provides meals to our in-country partners for crisis relief,” the organization’s website states.

Since it began its meal-packaging program in 2005, Stop Hunger Now has packaged more than 34 million meals and distributed them in more than 72 countries worldwide.

“The program perfected the assembly process that combines rice, soy, dehydrated vegetables and a flavoring mix including 21 essential vitamins and minerals into small meal packets,” the website states.

Following the meal packaging, there will be a screening of “The Pursuit of Happyness.”

“The movie features Will Smith as the leading actor and tells the story of a homeless salesman’s hardships after he gains custody of his son,” an announcement on the UA website states.

At midnight, the UA chapter of TOMS will host its “Walk Without Shoes,” a barefoot walk around the Quad to promote the TOMS movement and raise awareness of the impact that one pair of shoes can have on a child’s life.

“The Walk Without Shoes is being held on the same night as the Sleep Out on the Quad because our goals are similar,” Kellie Gentry, president of UA TOMS, said. “Sleeping out on the Quad shows people what it is like to be homeless. In the same way, the Walk Without Shoes shows people what it is like to live in poverty and not have shoes to wear every day.”

Often, the lack of basic necessities, such as shoes, is related to homelessness, she said.

“When you think of homelessness, you often think of people in poverty who don’t have shoes,” she said. “The walk is meant to raise awareness of how even one pair of shoes can make a difference.”

After the walk, students have the option of rolling out their sleeping bags on the Quad and spending the night under the stars to raise awareness of homelessness.

Recent economic hardships and increased foreclosures have increased the number of homeless people in the United States.

“There are 671,859 people experiencing homelessness on any given night in the United States — roughly 22 of every 10,000 people are homeless,” the National Alliance to End Homelessness’ website states. “Of that number, 37 percent are people in families and 63 percent are individuals.”

Although some states have seen a decrease in homelessness in recent years, the homeless population in Alabama has grown significantly.

In 2009, there were 6,080 homeless people in the state of Alabama, according to the alliance. This reflects a 13 percent increase over the previous year.

For more information about Sleep Out on the Quad, students may visit the Community Service Center in Room 360 of the Ferguson Center or email the event organizers at [email protected]