It was a night of concrete and cardboard for Document Solutions Australia directors Colin Wheeler and Alan Thompson as they participated in the 2021 Vinnies CEO Sleepout to support the prevention of homelessness on the Gold Coast. On 17th June, 215 local business owners, CEOs, and associates gathered to sleep rough on one of the coldest nights of the year.
We are happy to report the night was a success. Held at the CBUS Super Stadium in Robina, participants gathered for reasons both personal and sympathetic with one cause in mind: homelessness prevention. For more than 116,000 Australians, sleeping rough is a daily reality (Census, 2016), and with the impact of Covid-19 on our community over the last year and a half, it is expected this number is on the rise.
One night isn’t a lot, but it did make a lot of difference: The Gold Coast sleepout raised a total of $615,631 as of this morning, smashing the original $500,000 fundraising goal with over 4,000 supporters. We are proud to be part of the Gold Coast community which we believe achieved the largest amount raised by a single event on the Gold Coast.
“Of the 8 locations around the country, the Gold Coast had the third-highest participation and the 6th largest total raised but per capita, we were number 1 in both!” event ambassador and 6th-year participant, Colin Wheeler quotes, “the funds raised each year go to moving less fortunate Gold Coast people into emergency and crisis accommodation and Vinnies have plans for another 42 units to put a small dent into a massive issue.”
We would like to extend a huge thank you to all who supported Colin and Alan this year by sponsoring donations and sharing the cause. We are proud to say both directors smashed their fundraising goals, finishing with a combined total of $20,894. An incredible effort and huge generosity from DSA’s partners, clients, and employees, not to mention family and friends.
With one final effort on the night, we raised a little extra. Colin crafted a ‘luxurious’ cardboard bed from our abundance of copier shipping boxes for one lucky CEO to win at auction! Bids for the bed came in hot and the hammer went down at approximately $2,500 for the bespoke piece.
It is both a humbling and motivating experience to participate in the Vinnies CEO Sleepout each year. Well done to all who got involved and we are looking forward to next year.
If you are looking to get involved, you can find more information on participation and help break the cycle of homelessness here: CEO Sleepout Gold Coast
