• “I HEAR AND I FORGET; I SEE AND I REMEMBER; I DO AND I UNDERSTAND.”

-Confucius

Do you truly want a better understanding of humanity, and even yourself, while helping those who are marginalized in your community? Then, take the NFA Challenge…and discover just how much more there is to understanding the plight of homeless people. In doing so, help change their world and your community for the better by sharing your NFA Challenge experiences and stories, educating those who make pledges to support your marathon.

Be homeless for a weekend – Get pledges from family and friends in support of their efforts to raise funds – Share experiences.

• Relinquish their place of residence and all material possessions including personal cell phones and electronic devices for the weekend, or for the time (hours) they are participating in the NFA Marathon Challenge and living on the streets.
• Wear the second-hand clothes provided to them at the beginning on of the NFA Marathon Challenge – They may not fit.
• Use only the provisions given to them in their NFA backpack including a notepad, pen, CFFFS flowers and cards, emergency cell phone and $5 phone card.
• Participate in the NFA Marathon Challenge Survival Hunt

All NFA Marathon participants are forbidden to participate in any illegal activities and/or any activities involving drugs or alcohol. Any non-compliance to this rule results in immediate termination from the NFA Marathon Challenge.

• Provide Opportunities for better understanding of marginalized people in our communities
• Allow NFA Participants to experience the real fears and actual challenges of a homeless person living with No Fixed Address on urban or suburban streets in Canada.
• Produce Greater Empathy of the emotional, physical, financial, and psychological challenges homeless people face daily living on the streets.
• Increase Understanding through raising Empathy of all parties involved including families, friends, and colleagues hearing NFA Marathon Challenge stories told by the participants they are sponsoring and supporting.
• Increase Community Involvement through sponsorship pledges for NFA Marathon Challenge participants.
• Provide Personal Satisfaction to NFA participants and sponsors knowing their involvement is making a true difference in their communities
• To Fuse the Dichotomy between “us and them”
• To Raise Funds through sponsorship pledges for NFA participants
• To Help Evaluate and monitor the successes and difficulties of CFFFS street flower donations
• To Popularize Homelessness issues through social media tactics supporting and covering NFA Marathon Challenge participants

The survival hunt task list includes:

Raising money using CFFFS flowers on the streets: Participants must earn a meager income through donations using CFFFS flowers from people passing by. This should be completed as soon as possible to ensure that the flowers don’t become an inconvenience, and that enough money is collected to buy needed items.

Floral revenue purchase: Using monies raised from flowers on the streets, participants must enter a down town store to buy a coffee cup of their choice to use for pan-handling.

All participants must beg for $5-$10:  Participants must find the courage to ask for money from strangers in public equalling no more than $10.oo.

Tracking the money: Once finished collecting their money, participants must document how long it took to obtain it, and also how the money was used necessities such as food, toilet paper, or share with others.

Sleeping outside: Participants are asked to sleep outside (parks), or weather demanding, find a drop-in shelter for the night(s).

Bottle collecting: Participants are required to bin dive for recyclable cans/bottles to see how many they can collect equaling 5 dollars or more. At this time they are asked to give the bottles/cans to another homeless person and get their story (reasons) for collecting.

Go shopping: Participants are asked to enter a bookstore to window shop a book on self-improvement.  Browsing as they would normally, participants should observe and then later document how they are treated by the staff/security. Participants are welcome to try this a few times.

Share CFFFS with other homeless persons: Participants are asked to briefly introduce the Canadian Flowers for Food Society to homeless people they meet – however, participants are asked not to try selling the program, simply mention their participation in the street level program.

Document experiences: near the end of the second or third day, participants are asked to spend 2 hours sitting on the street (this can be done in tandem with begging for money) and document their feelings of how others perceive them using the notepad and pen in their backpack.

1. NFA Marathon Challenge backpack containing:
   • An itinerary outlining NFA Marathon Challenge perimeter in metro Vancouver
   • Sleeping bag/small blanket
   • Personal items. Only absolutely necessary items such as medicine, contacts etc.
   • One small notepad and pen
   • Emergency cell phone charged with $5 and one phone number (no other calls permitted)
2. One bucket of CFFFS flowers to generate income on the streets.
3. CFFFS cards to give with flowers
4. A hash code strip on NFA backpack to help identify NFA participant to community members searching for them to enter draw for prize.