60 June 2014
Miss Sustainable
Continued from previous page
I went to pass out the 150
umbrellas on that hot July day
to our homeless population.
I visited two parks, then went
down to the streets surround-
ing our main urban homeless
shelter, CASS.
According to Arizona's statis-
tics on homelessness, there
were 28,000 people in Arizona
who experienced homeless-
ness in 2012. Of those people,
5,805 of them are children.
28,000 people experiencing
triple digit temperatures for
prolonged periods of time,
including nearly 6000 kids.
This is tragic. These people
are among the most vulnerable
population when it comes to
heat related illness and death.
As I passed out the umbrel-
las, I had people smile, hug
me and even cry. People acted
shocked at being given some-
thing, and I would assure them
the umbrella was a gift and I
wanted nothing in return.
"Please use this for shade." I
would say. "Please try to keep
yourself cool."
When I ran out of umbrellas, I
was still surrounded by a large
group of people.
People.
I often think about how differ-
ent our world would be if our
people were treated with as
much love, care and under-
