Giving up the home comforts that so many people take for granted, the volunteers braved the cold night from 6pm until 6am, to raise awareness and funds to support the critical work of Girls and Boys Town.
Carnival City’s Sleep Out is aligned with the inaugural 702 Sun International CEO Sleep Out, which was held in Johannesburg, also on June 18.
Carnival City’s general manager, Annemie Turk, and other employees gave up the luxury of their warm beds and slept on sheets of cardboard at Carnival City’s main entrance.
The CEO Sleep Out, founded in Australia in 2006, challenges local business leaders to join the global movement to raise funds, awareness and empathy for homelessness and the challenges faced by vulnerable children every day.
Almost 200 of the country’s top business leaders registered to participate in the 702 Sun International CEO Sleep Out.
The immediate mission of the Johannesburg CEO Sleep Out event is for 250 participants to raise R100 000 each, raising a total of R25-million overnight for Girls and Boys Town, and to spark a conversation about the role of business as a force for good in society.
“If South Africa’s top business echelon can spend a cold winter’s night under the stars, so should we,” said Turk.
“It was a good experience. All of us (employees of Carnival City) stood together for the same thing.”
The Sleep Out was a success and an excited Annemie said that she received a phone call that night confirming that they had reached their target of R25-m.
“It’s still unbelievable to me that we succeeded in reaching the target; with everybody’s help and support we made the unbelievable a reality.”
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