Sunshine Coast Business Council members are preparing their sleeping bags ahead of the Vinnies Corporate and Community Sleepout Sunshine Coast 2018 this Thursday, 23 August on Maroochydore beach.
With temperatures forecast to dip to a chilly seven degrees during the night, Sunshine Coast Business Council Chair Sandy Zubrinich said that participants will experience what life is like for the more than 900 homeless men, women and children on the Sunshine Coast.
“We have had wonderful support from local dignitaries, business people and community members in committing to sleeping out but we are still seeking donations in order to meet the Business Council’s target of $50,000 towards Vinnies Sunshine Coast’s regional target of $150,000 for the night,” Ms Zubrinich said.
“The Sunshine Coast Business Council has currently raised about $21,000 of the almost $80,000 total**, so we are calling on the Sunshine Coast business community to help us reach our goal ahead of the Sleepout starting on Thursday.”
“The Business Council will have 23 members sleeping out including Ben Simpson and Adrian Allen from Stockland, Tony Vickers from Midson Construction, Simon Latchford from Visit Sunshine Coast, Peter Pallot from the Sunshine Coast Airport and our MC for the night Bill Darby.”
Businesses and individuals can donate to one of the sleepers who have already signed up, with any size donation helping towards achieving the Business Council’s goal.
“We hope people will share our belief in providing the basic human need of shelter to our local homeless community and in particular supporting the renovation of nine new units that have been purchased to provide over 9,000 additional bed nights per year to those experiencing homelessness on the Coast,” Ms Zubrinich said.
“Homelessness affects a wide variety of people – of the 900 sleeping rough each night, 34% are female and 16% are children, so this really impacts all facets of our community.”
The Vinnies Corporate and Community Sleepout Sunshine Coast 2018 will take place on Thursday, 23 August outside the Maroochydore Surf Club. Participants will be provided with a piece of cardboard to sleep on or build a shelter with, and a basic meal of soup, bread, tea and coffee.
To donate to the cause, register to participate or find out more, please visit www.communitysleepout.org.au.
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Note: There are over 2,800 people considered homeless in Vinnies Queensland’s Northern Diocese which includes Gympie, the Fraser Coast and parts of the Moreton Bay region as well as the Sunshine Coast and Noosa.
** Please note, these dollar values are accurate at the time of distribution, please check here for the Business Council’s total and here for the overall Sleepout total.
Media contact: Maya Gurry, Fresh PR & Marketing 0410 109 102 maya@freshprm.com.au
