Students in sleeping bags slouched up against the side of a church building as Orion lit up the cold winter sky Monday night.

People huddled together in small groups and sipped on cigarettes and hot chocolate. To one side, a few kids played “monkey in the middle” with a spare glove. 

“If the world was like this more often, it’d be a much more beautiful place,” said Donald, who is homeless.

Wichita State students and faculty and various Wichita community members attended “A Night Under the Stars” at First United Methodist Church on Broadway. They were there to gather donations for Wichita’s homeless population, while also raising awareness for the conditions they endure each winter night.

Students and community members spent the night outside in the church parking lot with a handful of homeless men, and were able to give them some clothing, food and words of encouragement.

The remaining donations will go to the Point in Time homeless count later this month.

“We’ll make 600 (donation) bags — that’s our goal,” said senior Kaitlin Heaton, president of the Student Organization of Social Work (SOSW) at WSU. She was at the forefront of organizing “A Night Under the Stars.”

The Point-In-Time count is an annual count of homeless individuals. The 2015 count for Wichita takes place Jan. 28 at Century II. Numbers from other cities, and then states, will go to a combined nationwide count that will represent the number of homeless people in the United States from the past year.

Heaton said hygiene and feminine care items that were donated Monday will be bagged and handed out to homeless people who show up for the count.

“There will be 40 of us social workers at the Point In Time count to give them away,” she said.

 Emily Ozbun, who graduated from WSU last semester, came with her guitar and provided music that evening.

“So all I have is Jesus music, if that’s OK with everybody,” Ozbun said to the audience before she started strumming and singing Christian worship songs.

Ozbun didn’t stay to sleep outside, but she enjoyed the event.

“It’s impressive, the turn-out, because it’s really cold. But it’s been really nice,” she said.

“You know, Jesus walked on this earth with people like this, and he was telling us that all we need is love,” Donald said while talking with a group of students and munching on a snack.

“Yep, just like the Beatles,” a girl piped in, before Donald belted out the chorus of a popular ’60s song.

Donald and Jeff were two homeless men who stayed the night Monday outside First United Methodist Church. Some other homeless people stopped by that day but didn’t stay the night.

Donald said he’s been homeless off and on for about two years, and he’s been in Wichita since 2012. Jeff is recently back on the streets again as of four or five days before “A Night Under the Stars.”

“I was in the [Union Rescue] Mission, but my time ran out. So I’ve been trying to get stuff together,” Jeff said. He said he had been in and around Wichita for quite a few years.

Jeff said his favorite part of the event was “meeting people, and just finding out that I’m not the only one that’s having problems at this time,” he said.

Senior Natalie Nicks came with her friend, Amber Dinapoli, to “A Night Under the Stars.”

“By going through this ourselves, we want to say [to people on the streets] that ‘we’re there for you,’” Nicks said. Nicks is also a member of SOSW.

SOSW wasn’t the only organization that helped with “A Night Under the Stars.” Kansas Bearded Warriors, a group of bearded men who participate in community events in order to give to charity, provided hot chocolate that night. Earlier in the day, the Funky Monkey Munchies food truck arrived and offered $1 off a meal price if the customer brought a donation.

Joanna Sand, a local hair stylist, gave 15 to 20 free haircuts to homeless people during the afternoon. The Lord’s Diner hosted dinner that evening in which event participants could dine with homeless people and invite them to spend the night outside the church together.

Johnathon Dufresne came to spend time with the homeless and represent his homeless outreach ministry, Absolutely Amazing People, of which he is the president and founder. First United Methodist Church and their Open Door homeless ministry was also involved in hosting the event.