Monday afternoon, a party was going on in Busch Memorial Center, though not exactly the type of party typical of a college campus.

Four hundred seventy-five people attended-200 more than last year’s event-and the hosts were a variety of volunteers from Saint Louis University.

This party, lightly joked about as “SLUcarnival,” was the Community Outreach Center’s fourth annual Open Doors event.

This event not only provided clothing and aid to the homeless but provided service opportunities for students, faculty and staff.

Homeless persons were referred by shelters throughout the city of St. Louis to come to the BMC and receive clothing, toiletry items and a good meal.

The clothing distributed at the event was collected throughout SLU over the past few weeks and came from students and staff alike.

“It was enough to fill up two rooms,” said Ray Harter, a student worker for the Community Outreach Center.

Shoes, donated by Shoe Carnival and Payless, were also distributed to many children who needed them for the coming summer.

There was also face painting and a variety of games and attractions for the kids as well as the meal and cloths. Face painting, a puppet show and a person making balloon animals enriched the day for the children.

“We were expecting between 400 and 500 people, and we got the higher of the two,” said Bernie Schaefer, director of the Community Outreach Center.

Open Doors was just the beginning of Homeless Awareness Week, which began Monday with Open Doors and will end this Saturday with a symposium on legal assistance for the homeless, running from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Law School.

Other events were also planned for the entire week, such as a reflective van tour through various socio-economic neighborhoods in the St. Louis area, which took place on Tuesday.

“We drove through parts of North St. Louis and then through neighborhoods around Forest Park,” said Kara Lubischer, the organizer for the tour and post tour dinner, which was at the St. Patrick Center Alumni Club in the Forest Park East neighborhood.

“It was a good experience to see what exists around us [those living at SLU].”

After the meal at the St. Patrick Center, Lubischer and the others who were with her, were surprised by the experience of sitting in on a Narcotics Anonymous meeting.

“It was a great experience, which not many people get to have,” Lubischer said.

On Wednesday, a round table discussion with homeless people was held in room 306 of the BMC. Thursday is a campus-wide day of fasting for those who wish to participate, as well as a prayer service beginning at 9 p.m. in Quad I.

An outdoor sleep will also be held in the Quad that night.

On Friday, outdoor Stations of the Cross will be hosted at 3 p.m. at DeMattias Hall.

In case of ran, it will be held instead in St. Francis Xavier College Church.

There will also be a visit to the Salvation Army Harbor Light Homeless Shelter from 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Students wishing to attend should call 977-1538 and meet in the Campus Ministry office, located on the second floor of the Busch Memorial Center.