Passers-by on Library Mall on Saturday afternoon were greeted by an energetic group of University of Wisconsin-Madison students and community members standing amongst their homes for the night — large, colorful appliance boxes.

The potential snowstorm did not deter them from participating in the fourth annual Box City sleep-out, aimed at raising awareness about homelessness in Madison.

About 15 to 20 people slept outside in boxes they decorated themselves, adorned with streamers, balloons and facts about homelessness. While they weren’t looking forward to cold, snow or loud bar patrons in the middle of the night, they understood their demonstration was powerful.

"We didn’t get much sleep at all, which is totally indicative of a normal night around the city for many homeless people," said Ashley Ojala, a UW-Madison senior and volunteer for Street Pulse, Madison’s homeless cooperative newspaper, which sponsored the event.

"If we have to rough it for one night, we can get a sense of what (homeless people) go through 365 days of the year," said Jackie Hauser, a sophomore.

As night fell, participants listened to testimonials from homeless people about their experiences on the street.

Darrell Lowell, 41, has been homeless off and on for the past 18 years. He said he is usually treated nicely by Madison residents, but some stereotypes are inevitable.

"A lot of us do have alcohol and drug problems, he said, "but there are some of us out there trying to actually make a living."

Will Workman, Street Pulse editor, said he believes the city could be doing more to alleviate the problem, including making more space for beds in shelters.

"There are basically massive villages of people who live like this," he said about Box City. "We want to try to be sensitive to what the homeless are going through, especially in a recession."

An additional difficulty, he said, has been the stigmatizing of the homeless in the wake of the Brittany Zimmermann homicide, after which they have had to "keep an even lower profile." In the wake of her death, police arrested dozens of transients on unrelated charges as part of the investigation.

By the time they awoke to snow falling Sunday morning, participants deemed the event a success but acknowledged there would always be more work to do.

Ojala said they raised enough money to pay funeral expenses for Eric Manley, a Madison homeless man who died in September on the steps of Bethel Lutheran Church.

"We got our message out there," she said, "but a lot of people are still unaware."

"I can’t imagine actually changing any outlooks," said Rocky Ison, 55, who lives out of his car. "One thing it does is allow the students to actually interact with homeless people (and realize) we don’t all have addictions."