Alexis Nguyen & Selin Hekimoglu / Staff reporters
Next week students will be sleeping out in the cold for the annual Gleneagle Sleepout fundraising for Covenant House Vancouver. This year will be the ninth consecutive year Sleepout will be hosted, and the first time in two years the event will be held in person.
Sleepout is an event where students will be sleeping outside Gleneagle overnight from April 21 to 22 to help raise money and awareness for homeless youth in the community. Participants will also take part in discussion activities related to homelessness and how to support those who need it.
“Raising funds is a really important part, but it’s also about awareness and bringing more knowledge to the community,” said Izabela Fabbro, grade 12 and Con X student.
The event will be raising money for Covenant House, an organization in Vancouver that helps homeless youth by giving youth a place to stay, supplying them with clothing and food, and training them with life skills to use after they leave.
Covenant House has been very successful in the programs they provide for youth in the community who need it. In 2021, they connected with 722 youth, provided 406 of them with food and a place to stay, and left 98% of youth saying Covenant House has helped them, with 85% of them feeling more confident about their futures.
This year’s goal for fundraising is $2,500. All fundraising will be done online, through a school donation page and each student participant will have their own individual link.
Students who have previously participated in the Sleepout event have described their experience as eye-opening. “Personally, Sleepout has been an impactful and empowering experience for me.” says Con X student Gyu Min Jang, grade 11. He expresses his excitement of being able to take part in the event for the first time in two years.
For Ruby Charney, grade 11, it will be her first time participating and organizing sleepout, however it will not be her first Covenant House related event. “I’ve done volunteering though Covenant House and other homeless shelters, so I wanted to find a way to get more involved,” said Charney.
Spending one night outside can provide students with lots of insight into the complications that homeless youth face on a daily basis. “We are fortunate enough to be able to go back home and rest after the event is over, but homeless youth don’t have the option to refresh afterwards. We want to be able to provide more certainty,” said Fabbro.
After 2 years of putting an in-person pause on the event, leadership teacher Adam Hayes is relieved to see its return. He is enthusiastic that students are continuing to run and participate in the event and supporting those in a similar age range.
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