The Annual Zoo and Snooze, coordinated by Ms Vicki de Carle from Coast Shelter, will be held at the Reptile Park on Friday August 7.
For the first time, Zoo and Snooze has set a fundraising target of $100,000 with money raised going to Coast Shelter and staying on the Central Coast to support local people in need. Unfortunately the vision many people have of homeless people is the drunk old man in the park, but that is rare.
So many homeless people are women and children fleeing domestic violence, young people escaping physical and sexual abuse, people with mental health issues and sometimes it’s just that life has thrown someone a curve ball. One of the most important elements of Zoo and Snooze is that it raises awareness across the business community.
“It will change them forever, they get a little insight into what it would be like to have to carry your possessions, unpack your sleeping gear on the ground, try and get some sleep in the cold and then pack it all up again in the morning and move on,” said Ms de Carle.
“I am so proud of the Central Coast Business community who not only support this event but actually sleep on the ground in the freezing cold with every year getting more sleepers. “It is really hard, uncomfortable and extremely cold, but they do it to support people who need a hand, isn’t that the great Aussie spirit displayed perfectly,” she said.
The minimum fundraising goal for each sleeper is set at $1,000 as a way to maximise fundraising potential and create greater awareness. The sleepers ask colleagues, friends and family to sponsor them to sleep rough for the night.
Each sleeper will ask everyone they know to donate or buy a raffle ticket, telling them why they are sleeping rough, which in turn raises awareness about homelessness.
Media release,
15 July 2015
Joshua Lucas, Dosh PR