A peek into what CEOs can expect on SleepOut

The CEO SleepOut concept was created in 2006 by Australian businessman and philanthropist Bernard Fehon. The initiative involves CEOs and executives in big companies spending an evening sleeping on the street to gain first-hand experience of the lives of the impoverished and homeless, while raising funds for those in need.

To get a perspective on what the CEOs can expect from a night on the street, information gained from an interview Sandton Chronicle did last year with Sandton artist Abram Kgoeli will be useful.

Kgoeli, who is based on the corner of Sandton Drive and Marie Avenue, lives in the adjacent greenbelt in a small shack.

Kgoeli commended the efforts of the CEOs and said his staple diet was mielie meal which he cooks at a communal fire with other greenbelt occupants.

He said he uses plastic and cardboard which he lays over his blankets in his small shack to keep warm – the cardboard is to hold the heat in, while the plastic is to prevent any water from reaching his blankets.

Kgoeli gives the CEOs advice on how he keeps warm in the cold Johannesburg evening in the video below:

Last year’s Chairperson of the CEO SleepOut, Tish Stewart said the initiative was not only a great way to raise funds for the impoverished, but would also raise awareness and help develop empathy for homeless people.

SleepOut participant and CEO of Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr, Brent Williams said, “There is some risk that CEOs sleeping out for one night is not a sufficiently authentic effort by Corporate South Africa to roll up its sleeves and make sustained contributions to dealing with our country’s developmental and other challenges.”

South African leaders were once again urged to rise to the challenge this year at the second instalment of the massively successful Sun International CEO SleepOut.

Present at this year’s launch was Graeme Stephens, chief executive officer of headline partner Sun International, who shared his insight into the inaugural event and the impact it had had. “It was a privilege to be a part of the inaugural CEO SleepOut, which went on to be the single largest fundraising event South Africa has hosted,” he said.

“Following the massively successful night, we discussed some of the successes from the night and places for improvement and decided to focus more on education because it’s such a hot button in the country at the moment.”

Stephens and other speakers highlighted that education was a long-term solution to eradicating poverty.

He added that because of this, it was decided to find beneficiaries with a strong focus on education. Three were identified – the ASHA Trust, Columba Leadership and the Steve Biko Foundation.

Elaborating on the theme was Bongani Bingwa, a presenter on Carte Blanche, who stressed the importance of focusing on education. “The need for education has never been higher, and the focus is not only on generating funds but on a national call to action for the rest of the country to get involved.”

This call to action will see sympathy sleepouts take place at companies, tertiary institutions and schools across the country in support of the main event. The School SleepOut hopes to see schools from across the country registering and supporting the vulnerable in South Africa.