By GEORGIA WESTGARTH
WITH close to 23,000 people sleeping rough in Victoria every night, students from Noble Park added an extra 40 to that number for a night of fund-raising.
Raising $605 for St Vincent de Paul, Nazareth College students dusted off their sleeping bags and rugged up for a night out in the cold as part of the St Vinnies School and Community Sleep out.
Sadly, about 26 per cent of the homeless population in Victoria are under 18 years old, and in a fitting show of heart 40 Noble Park teenagers slept rough on Friday 28 August.
Raising awareness and funds for homelessness, the sleep out turned out to be a favourite among Nazareth College students.
Year 12 student Chris Maxwell said the night was an experience he would never forget.
“It really gave me a chance to see how much people actually care about those who are homeless,” he said.
Andrew Moore from the college said an “inspiring” group of senior students led other participants through activities during the night.
“The activities really made them think about what leads to homelessness and at the same time raised awareness of related issues in our community,” Mr Moore said.
Vincent Care chief executive John Blewonski said nights such as these were a fantastic way to change people’s perceptions on homelessness and who was affected by it.
“Homelessness includes anyone living in unsafe or insecure housing, such as boarding houses or shelters, and sadly due to domestic violence this includes a lot of women and children,” Mr Blewonski said.
Madeline Hately-Smith from Nazareth College said the sleep out was one of the best events she had ever been involved in.
“Everyone who attended got into the spirit of the night and were really receptive to all the activities that we ran,” the Year 11 student said.
