No one should be homeless. However, there are more than 116,000 Australians who sleep rough each night of the year.
Just under half of these are women; a quarter are under the age of 18.
Yet the power to change a life is within us all, says the St Vincent de Paul Society Queensland, in the wake of the 2019 Vinnies Community Sleepout Sunshine Coast at the Maroochy Surf Club on Thursday, August 8.
And RDASC wholeheartedly agrees, with CEO Paul Fisher (pictured) joining the cause to raise money for the homeless.
Paul, who is part of the Sunshine Coast Business Council team who are sleeping rough at the charity event, has thrown himself into event fundraising.
He is a local business leader who’s passionate about community causes.
“The Sunshine Coast Business Council Team is hoping to raise $50,000 towards Vinnies’ goal of $150,000 by sleeping out on August 8,” he said.
“While we’re extremely privileged to never know what it’s actually like to be homeless, the team is hoping to highlight why homelessness is a growing problem in our community.
“More people than ever are turning to Vinnies for help. Please help them by making a donation. It only takes a minute and any money you can give (no matter how large or small) will go a long way to helping those in need. Thank you, the team and I really appreciate your support.”
Paul and the team will donning plenty of warm clothing and bringing sleeping bags and blankets – not to mention a good sense of humour – to the event.
You can donate to Paul, the proceeds of which go to St Vincent de Paul Society Queensland, here: https://vinniesqld.grassrootz.com/2019-vinnies-community-sleepout-sunshine-coast/paul-fisher.
The St Vincent de Paul Society in Australia has more than 60,000 members and volunteers, who work hard to assist people in need and combat social injustice across Australia.
For more event information, email northern.sleepout@svdpqld.org.au.