Student council members at Bellport High School organized a “stay-awake-a-thon” to help raise funds and awareness for Mercy Center Ministries, a non-profit founded in 1983 in response to the growing number of homeless teens on Long Island, which provides independent living shelters and programs designed to teach young women the skills they need to be responsible adults. Students challenged one another to stay awake from 7pm to 7am and participated in fun activities to help them achieve their goal.