WHEN asked if this year’s CEO Vinnies Sleepout was easier than the last, Caloundra priest Fr Joshua Whitehead laughed.
“No,” he said, “Way harder.”
On Thursday, June 23, Fr Whitehead, Our Lady of the Rosary College Principal Dr Michael Stewart and Caloundra Unity College Principal Daniel McShea took part in the CEO Vinnies Sleepout.
The annual event encourages leaders across Australia to sleep without shelter on the longest night of the year to raise funds and awareness for homelessness.
Fr Whitehead said the event was a “wonderful opportunity” for the parish community to experience the “sobering reality of homelessness”.
Last year, the Sunshine Coast community had no designated location for the sleepout, so Fr Whitehead and the college principals slept on the veranda of the school’s parish.
This year, they braved the icy winds and slept on the Noosa Surf Club beach.
“We were given three pieces of cardboard and spent the night under the stars on the beach,” he said.
“It was uncomfortable and freezing but, in a sense, we were lying in solidarity with all those without homes.”
Fr Whitehead wants Australians to realise many people have the “privilege of security, comfort and safety” of a home, while others are homeless for reasons “outside of their own control”.
Last year, Fr Whitehead, Dr Stewart and Mr McShea raised almost $9500.
This year, the three community leaders raised $15,000.
To find out more about the Vinnies CEO Sleepout, go to: https://www.ceosleepout.org.au/
