Nicole Jobst Ryan Francois and his friends are on a mission. Three years ago the Johnston High School senior participated in the first Reggie's Sleepout, a fundraiser for homeless youths. Each year since, he's assembled more friends in a bid to build even bigger cardboard structures to sleep in as part of the overnight experience. This year 20 Johnston seniors will spend Saturday night at Drake Stadium in what they consider a small apartment. The group, which named its team Los Toros Blancos, has spent three weeks planning and building its structure. None of the team's past structures compare to what they are taking on this year. Before, the boys held a few refrigerator boxes together with duct tape. This year, the team of 20 has a 616-square-foot version of the Iowa Capitol. "That's pretty dang big," Francois said. They got the idea when they saw a creation last year. The biggest structure was a Statue of Liberty. They wanted to build something bigger this year - and raise more money to match the structure's size. "We figured if we're going to do something this big, we're going to match the fundraising," Francois said. "We figured it's our senior year and our last chance to do this." Reggie's Sleepout is named for Reggie Kelsey, a 14-year-old homeless boy who aged out of foster care and lived on the streets in Des Moines. He bounced around shelters and spent a few nights outside in the winter. His body was found in the Des Moines River in 2001. Now, church groups, schools and various organizations honor his memory by spending the night in a cardboard structure to rais e awareness of the issue of youth homelessness and to raise money to combat the problem. Last year, Los Toros Blancos raised a few hundred dollars. As of Tuesday, this year's tally was at $4,430. Francois has been all over town getting cardboard donated from hardware, appliance and furniture stores. He got Ace Hardware and Lowes to donate rolls of duct tape and gorilla tape, which they have been conserving. Classmates and teachers at Johnston High School noticed what the team was doing and decided to help. Now, the student council is helping sell T-shirts and teachers are donating money and spreading the word. The two-story structure is 15 feet tall inside the tallest point of the dome and 40 feet long. Three weeks ago, they started brainstorming in class. They designed their final draft in software as part of the Project Lead the Way program at Johnston. The high school engineering program taught the boys the skills they needed to piece together the structure, and Project Lead the Way CEO John Lock donated $500 to the cause after Francois wrote him a letter. "It doesn't matter who you are, this is fun," said Justin Handel, who joined the group late because he was involved in soccer . "It's cool seeing something start from nothing, from tubes and cardboard, and form into a capitol building. It reminds us we are part of something bigger than us." The structure is so big, the group has to take most of Saturday to set up before judging begins at 9 p.m. They have a semi -trailer truck lined up to transport the structure in pieces. The group hopes to reach its fundraising goal of $5,000 - which it believes will match the heft of the capitol. Donations may be made to the group online at www.reggiessleepout.org under the Los Toros Blancos team name. Des Moines Register