St. Michael’s College in Colchester and Burlington’s Champlain College recently organized programs to mark National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week, says the Burlington Free Press. Students from St. Michael’s spent Monday through Thursday, 24 hours a day, in the “shack,” a structure built on campus. The intent was not to simulate the experience of homelessness, but rather to call attention to the fact it exists in Vermont. Other college events included an Oxfam Hunger Banquet; a Mass and vigil; a Knitting Club effort that made hats and mittens for needy children; and a presentation about youth homelessness. Champlain College students and some faculty and staff lived in tents on campus and engaged in daytime activities and workshops as part of an educational effort to simulate how many homeless live everyday. The college raised more than $2,000 last year for Burlington’s COTS (Committee for Temporary Shelter). “It’s important to support COTS, to help folks who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless and that includes families,” says Champlain’s Ashley George.E