Lynchburg College student raising awareness on social issues

Lynchburg College student Angela Massino strives to find the real-world applications for what she learns in class, even if that means playing hookie.

“Rather than always going to class and being there, I like to do what’s taught to me,” Massino says.

Last spring, just a week before finals, she skipped a week of classes to attend a rally for Invisible Children, an international nonprofit organization devoted to the war-affected children of East Africa. Massino traveled by bus to Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Baltimore and Chicago, where she and about 400 other young people appeared on an episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show for their efforts.

“I felt committed to the cause and wanted to make my voice heard about the war in Northern Uganda,” she says.

Massino’s latest effort hits closer to home. On Monday, Massino and a group of students will sleep outside the Chapel at Lynchburg College to raise money for two local shelters, Miriam’s House and Gateway.

The Solidarity Sleepers event is part of the college’s annual Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week. In past years, students have slept outside for just one night. Massino’s vision is to expand the sleep out to a week and have students raise money from sponsors for each night they brave the elements. She spread the word of the event through a Youtube.com video.

Massino, a junior, has been participating in the event since her freshman year. The first time, it was a cold and rainy night in November, she says, and by 2 a.m. she packed up her sleeping bag and headed to her dorm room.

Massino hopes a cash prize and the fact that students are raising money for local nonprofits will provide a greater incentive for students to commit to the challenge for the entire week. She expects between 10 and 30 students to participate.

“It’s not about the amount of people. It’s about having dedicated people who are here to do it.”

For the first two nights, the Solidarity Sleepers will sleep outside the chapel in sleeping bags. On the third night, they will build a box city.

“That will be a huge visual reminder for the campus,” Massino says.

On Friday, the box city will be torn down to symbolize the fate that often befalls these makeshift communities — they get torn down because of city ordinances, health code violations or simply because they are an eyesore.

Massino, who is studying communications and media technology, also is passionate about environmental issues, including mountaintop removal — a coal-mining process that she says harms not only the mountains but the surrounding communities. Last year, she produced a short documentary about mountaintop removal in Wise.

“A lot of people think that environmentalism is about the polar bears. But my deal is that it’s about the people that are being affected by all these environmental issues.”

Though the Delaware native plays hookie from time to time, her long-range goal is to become a college professor. In that role, she hopes to inspire students the same way her professors have inspired her.