As tension builds before the holiday break, student government is asking the campus to chill out at today’s “Chillin’ for Charity” fundraiser event in the South Quad.

Those interested are encouraged to kick back and relax from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. with Student Senate representatives who will be holding giveaways and collecting surveys aimed at understanding student body concerns.

Participants must pay a minimum fee of $50 to unwind in the November weather, where donations will go to support the Mattoon Area Public Action to Deliver Shelter (PADS). This nonprofit refuge is responsible for providing resources to the area homeless and hard-of-luck, including a safe place to sleep, access to showers and laundry facilities and two meals per day.

PADS is the only non-gender specific shelter in the area that serves an estimated 200 new people per year, and the number is growing, according to figures published by the 2007 U.S. Census Bureau, which stated that about 20 percent of the 51,011 residents of Coles County are living at or below the poverty line. Alex Boyd, sophomore and chair of the student affairs committee on the Student Senate, organized the event in the effort to make student government more visible to the campus community in a way that would also give back to the area.

He said the concept for the event reflects the idea behind Relay for Life, in which teammates seek sponsorship and take turns completing an active goal to raise money for a cause.

“It’s kind of like that, but for this, you don’t have to walk four miles, you just have to sit,” Boyd said. “Bring your homework, bring card games and come out.”

Boyd encourages students to form teams of 10 to reduce the cost to $5 per person to participate and asks that groups bring the proper chilling supplies, like chairs and blankets.

Couches and tents will also be permitted at the effort, which Boyd said he expects to garner an interest from the student body.

If all goes well, he said he hopes to introduce the concept as an annual event at Eastern. Nine campus groups are already confirmed to take advantage of the chance to combine reclining and raising funds for PADS, and Boyd emphasizes that individuals and smaller teams are welcome, as well.

His committee will be distributing T-shirts to participants who donate to the PADS cause that reaffirm the message of the event: “Who said couch potatoes are useless?”

Erica Whelan can be reached at 581-7942 or elwhelan@eiu.edu.