Sydney Swans General Manager of Commercial Kelle Storey will join CEOs from many of Australia’s favourite sporting codes in sleeping out at the SCG this week, as part of the Vinnies CEO Sleepout.
The Sleepout is a chance for CEOs to get a glimpse of the struggles that many people experiencing homelessness go through.
They’ll spend the night sleeping in the cold, winter weather, learning about the support services Vinnies offers and hearing first hand from people who have experienced difficulties that led to homelessness.
Storey, who has raised over $8000 so far, said she wanted to help highlight the issue of homelessness while raising money for a good cause.
“I was really inspired to take part in this year’s sleepout because I was staggered by the number of people sleeping rough, particularly the number of women, and many of the of them are accompanied by children,” Storey said.
“It’s something I wanted to help raise awareness of because there are a lot of stereotypes about why people are homeless, but when you break down the statistics a lot of it is simply bad luck, or sadly, family and domestic violence.”
Kelle Storey will be joined by Todd Greenberg from the NRL, David Matthews from GWS, Sam Graham from AFL NSW, and Andrew Jones from Cricket NSW.
Jamie Barkley, SCG Trust CEO is delighted to host the Sleepout at the SCG.
“The SCG is affiliated with a number of charities but this could be our biggest event yet,” Barkley said.
“Sport unites Australians from all walks of life and this is a brilliant opportunity to put homelessness in the spotlight. It’s something that largely goes unnoticed in society and the Trust is proud to help raise awareness and much needed funds for the cause.”
Join the effort
You can contribute to Kelle’s fundraising effort by donating. She is nearly at her target and every dollar counts and any donation would be greatly appreciated: https://www.ceosleepout.org.au/ceos/nsw-ceos/kelle-storey/
Homelessness Facts
- There are approximately 105,000 people experiencing homelessness every night across Australia
- 60% of the homeless population is under the age of 35
- More than 17,000 Australian children under the age of 12 have no home
- A further 10,900 young people aged 12-18 are experiencing homelessness and most are estranged from their families
- 44% of people experiencing homelessness are women
