Mary Gordon makes a donation to the TKE fraternity Friday at the Clinton Parkway Hy-Vee.

Members of KU’s Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity are homeless until noon Sunday, but it’s for a good cause.

“We’re doing our second-ever TKE in a Box,” said Kristopher Nielsen, the fraternity president.

The fraternity brothers will spend a total of 48 hours in front of the Hy-Vee food store at Clinton Parkway and Kasold Drive in a cardboard abode.

“What we do is we’ll live in this cardboard structure for 48 hours nonstop,” Nielsen said, “raising canned food for the Lawrence ECKAN food pantry and raising cash donations for the Lawrence Community Shelter.”

Nielsen summed it up: “Effectively, we’re being homeless to help the homeless.”

The KU fraternity’s first campout at Hy-Vee was last semester, and members raised about $500 for the shelter and collected more than 600 canned food items for the food pantry. Not all TKE brothers will spend all 48 hours in their hut.

“It’s hard to ask so many for their Friday and Saturday nights, so we’ll have people alternating,” Nielsen said. “We’re running in four- to eight-hour shifts.”

Nielsen would like to hold TKE in a Box every semester to develop a following in the community and to consistently contribute to the two charities.

“Hopefully we can grow this into something that reaches something of notoriety,” Nielsen said, “and people start knowing to plan for it and come out for it.”