Four UF students join others to produce newspaper for homeless

August 31, 2011

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Four students from the University of Florida will join others from all over the United States to spend their Labor Day weekend putting together a newspaper to benefit homeless people in South Florida.

Twenty students will take part in the program “Will Write for Food,” which started two years ago and brings college students together to produce the Homeless Voice, the second-largest newspaper in the country dedicated to covering issues related to homelessness and written by homeless people. The paper is sold for donations on the streets of South Florida with proceeds going to the medical and food programs at the COSAC Shelter in Hollywood where students will spend their weekend.

The goal is to create the 20-page newspaper, which is normally written by homeless people, in roughly 36 hours. Students can choose any media, from print to online to broadcast journalism, as long as they meet their deadline.

The program is organized by Michael Koretzky, who attended UF and is the adviser for the student newspaper at Florida Atlantic University. Koretzky’s goal is to take journalism students out of the classroom and give them real life experience when it comes to meeting deadlines and working outside their comfort zone.

“It’s silly to teach journalism just in the classroom,” Koretzky said. “Journalism is about working with deadlines and meeting people, so we are going to bring students into a homeless shelter and take over their paper.”

This year, program will include students from all over Florida, including UF students Meg Wagner, Hannah Winston, Sophia Lee and Morgan Watkins, as well as students from Georgia, Oklahoma, the Carolinas and Alaska. UF students have been involved with the program since its start, and always outnumber students from any other university, Koretzky said.

Students involved in the program range in age from freshmen to seniors, and in degree of work experience. However, Koretzky picked candidates with the right attitude, willingness to learn and the drive to be a better journalist.

Those involved in the program will work from a makeshift newsroom in the homeless shelter and have free reign with story ideas. In the past, students have dressed up and panhandled to experience life as a homeless person, and last year the newspaper ran a story about a wedding at the shelter. The students experience a variety of personalities at the shelter and each has his or her own personal story, Koretzky said.

Along with adding something to their resume that is sure to stand out in job interview, Koretzky hopes that “Will Write for Food” will give students a personal experience that they can learn from.

“Each student experiences the same thing but leaves with different conclusions,” Koretzky said. “If you talk to students that have done it in the past, they all say, ‘I would never do it again, but I’m glad I did it.’”