The National Honors Society hosted its annual Walk for the Homeless on Oct. 26 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. in support of the Montgomery County Coalition for the Homeless (MCCH).
The goal for MCCH is to end chronic homelessness, to prevent and end homelessness for families with children and youth by 2020 and to set a path to ending all types of homelessness. MCCH’s mission is to make sure that homelessness in Montgomery County is rare, brief and nonrecurring and according to MCCH, their vision is to “end homelessness in Montgomery County by building a community where everyone has a safe, stable, and affordable place to call home.”
There are many ways to help MCCH such as volunteering, donating, or advocating. For more information, go on the MCCH website, call (301) 217-0314, or email them at [email protected].
The turnout for the walk was lower than previous years yet National Honors Society members are still hopeful. “There was a slightly lower turnout this year than last, most likely because we held the Walk on a Saturday . We won’t know how much money we raised until Nov. 15, but we are expecting it to be more than last year. We have gotten many more donations and are holding fundraisers to increase the amount of money we give to MCCH,” Osagie Aimiuwu, senior and co-president of National Honors Society, said.
The walk helped bring together the society as a whole as they spent time outside of school together. “It was fun to be able to walk and talk with my friends around the track while also raising money for the homeless. This event helped me get closer to other National Honors Society members. Because this society is such a huge group, it’s hard to know everyone but this event helped me talk to new people. Despite the slightly low turnout, it was great,” Arzoe Singh, member of the junior board for the National Honors Society, said.
Other members of the society wished they had gone to support the cause. “I was busy on that day but I wish I could have gone because it seemed like a good opportunity to help raise money for homelessness but also befriend new members of the group and get to know everyone better,” junior Anela Trakic said.
