07-02-2025
One Winter Night: 'Trying to raise awareness'
Feb. 7—Brody Keith's steady participation in C-U at Home's One Winter Night dates nearly a decade.
There have been occasions when he spent his wedding anniversary — Feb. 3 — in a box in downtown Champaign "having a root beer and a sandwich from the Canteen Run instead of a nice dinner," he said. "I'm just trying to raise awareness for a very good cause. It's important to me."
Keith and close to 100 others will sleep in tents, boxes and cars outside The Venue CU tonight as part of One Winter Night. Facility operations coordinator at Ubben Basketball Complex on the University of Illinois campus, the 44-year-old from Philo said a trip he took with his wife, Aleta, to New Orleans — "where there were homeless everywhere" — convinced the couple to get involved.
One Winter Night, introduced in 2012, remains a major source of C-U at Home's budget.
