by Nathan Hunt |

Picture yourself and some friends huddled around a garbage bin fire. It is a cold, snowy night in the dark, trash-filled alleyway, gunshots ring out in the distance. Not many kids take the time to think about what it would be like to be a homeless teen in need. However, believe it or not, there are hundreds of teens that are homeless in the Metro area. Serteens, a community service club at LHS, sponsors One Homeless Night, an event for Liberty students to experience what it would be like to be a homeless teen. They do this once a year in November, sleeping in cardboard boxes on the football field.
“I could take away the experience of actually being a homeless person, and how horrible it is to actually be out in the cold like that and having no food because I eat all the time,” senior Diana Lalata said. Last year during the One Homeless Night, the weather was even more gruesome, with snowfall throughout the night. It helped Liberty students see just how the weather treats homeless kids during winter.
“This is my first time doing it, I thought about it last year but I chickened out because it was snowing,” said Lalata. One Homeless night has been going on for many years, and surprisingly enough, was not actually started by Serteens.
“It wasn’t started by us; it was started by Synergy Services in the Kansas City area. I know it has been going for a few years, I think it started when they built their teen center, to help house teens that are homeless. At least three or four years,” co-sponsor Sara Langford said. The members of Serteens not only experiencing how it feels to be homeless, but they are also raising money to benefit Synergy house.
“I think the goal was for each person to get pledges for $50, then $1000 total,” sophomore Jennifer Meyers said. If a member raises $100, a brick will be placed at Synergy bearing the student’s name.  Any student attending LHS was welcome to come and stay the night with Serteens.
“Anyone is invited. Mrs. Hertzog and I invited the different clubs of Liberty High School. Last year, what we did was invite groups to join us because we need to have help and the other sponsors we would help us get people. But if there was just someone who randomly wanted to participate, we would love to have them and we would also like for them to consider being a part of Serteens,” said Langford. Hopefully after the One Homeless Night, students will take away a new understanding of homeless teens.