Jonny Ainsworth
Staff Writer
Do you yearn to do a good deed for those less fortunate than yourself? Is there a naturist hidden inside you, yet you still respect public indecency laws? If you answered yes to one or both of the above questions, then you may very well be interested in the “Hunger and Homelessness Undie Run”, which is being put on by the student activist group Calpirg. The run, which is sponsored by both Associated Students and Silvergreens, will take place this Friday, May 6, at 9p.m.
The event costs $5, which will be collected during registration the night of the run, starting outside of Silvergreens at 8:30p.m. The first 100 participants to sign up will receive a free pair of boxer shorts. There are also prizes for the fastest male and female finishing times, for the cutest/most creative underwear (guys included) and a limited amount of IV Drip freebies, first come, first serve.
Once the race is finished, Silvergreens will be supplying all of the goods for contestants to make PB&J’s outside of the restaurant, which will then be distributed to the homeless the next day in downtown Santa Barbara. All of the clothing will be donated to local SB shelters.
If you are a member of Greek life, you can receive philanthropy hours for making the sandwiches after the run, distributing the PB&J’s the next day on Saturday or by helping to bag the clothes from the night before.
Calpirg has been around UCSB for a while and has worked on a variety of causes.
“Calpirg stands for California Public Interest Research Group. We are a student-led Public Interest Group that has been on the UCSB campus for 36 years. We are on 10 campuses across California and part of the national PIRG network,” said third-year Geology major, Alex Gomes. “Our mission is to inform students and make change for important issues that are in the public interest. We currently run 5 campaigns, including Oceans, Hunger and Homelessness, Higher Education, Global Warming Solutions and Energy Service Corps.”
Calpirg is a student-funded organization, receiving donations through the pledge system.
Gomes will be leading the run on Friday night but it won’t be too hard, as the run will also be mapped out with glow sticks so that the route is clear.
“I didn’t know it was a race at first, so I’ll be training all week,” he said. “In case [anyone] falls behind we will have people at every turn to direct them.”
Third-year Psychology major Amy Maggard is the campaign coordinator for Hunger and Homelessness, and she talks about the stages the run went through to get started.
“The run actually started out as a 5k walk/run that would target the whole Santa Barbara and Goleta community. In the end, we decided to keep it more local and get the student body more involved.”
The race now stands at just over a mile long, starting outside of Silvergreens, making its way down Camino Pescadero to Del Playa, going up Embarcadero Del Mar, making a left on Picasso, and ending up back where it started.
“Everyone’s five dollars is going directly to the cause,” continued Maggard. “75% of our proceeds are going directly to Red Cross to help the Japan Tsunami victims. The other 25% is going to local Santa Barbara shelters, specifically the Transition House, which is a family-based homeless facility.”
Tally Sumekh, a third year Psychology major, can’t wait to strip off her clothes for charity.
“I think that this run is such an amazing idea. What better way to help those in need than to take the clothes directly off your back?” she said.
Sumekh is also excited that she has the opportunity to participate in an undie run that isn’t during finals week.
“I have always wanted to do the traditional UCSB undie run, but I am always so slammed with finals. It is nice to have another opportunity, especially one that is going to such a good cause.”