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Next week members of Minot State University's Student Social Work Organization will brave the brisk fall air for a good cause: to collect food and monetary donations for area food pantries and charitable organizations.

They also hope to draw attention to the problem of homelessness and hunger in the Minot area, said Deb DeWitz, an assistant professor of social work and the group's adviser.

"Freezin' for a Reason" will be held from noon to 9 p.m. Wednesday in the Town and Country Shopping Center parking lot. The fourth annual drive will be held in coordination with the Minot Area Homeless Coalition and coincides with National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week.

"Students are the ones who plan the whole thing," said DeWitz, who said her students handle publicity for the event and some years send letters to churches.

This is a good way for her students to learn about the complexity of the issues involved in homelessness as well as to do their part to help the cause.

"Traditonally, people think of a homeless veteran living under a bridge or a homeless person living in a box," said DeWitz, but she said the largest group of homeless people is actually single women and their children.

Women fall into poverty after a divorce, after they lose their job or have some financial catastrophe. Even if jobs are available, they might not have the right hours or pay enough for a woman to maintain the rent on her apartment or home or for her to find affordable child care offered during the right hours.

There is a shortage of affordable housing in Minot and the rest of the area due to the oil boom, and food prices have also risen in the past few years.

Businesses are also more apt to offer part-time work without benefits, meaning that women and their kids can be financially devastated by a trip to the doctor or the hospital. The city also doesn't seem to be doing its part to provide infrastructure for jobs, said DeWitz.

DeWitz said her students learn about these factors and how they impact the people they will soon be working with in social work.

People can help by donating food or by providing monetary donations, said DeWitz or to donate to a local food pantry in their own area.

"The reason I got involved this year is because I wanted to be part of raising awareness of a population that is often overlooked. Many people, like myself, initially are not aware that homeless people even exist in Minot," said Renelou Gonzalez, a senior social work major from San Francisco, in a press release.

DeWitz said the club typically has about 15 to 20 members.

"We're a small group for as much as we do," she said.