Casey Council will be hosting the first Casey Homeless Sleep-out at Casey Fields on Saturday 11 August.
Being held in conjunction with Homelessness Week, the overnight event is an opportunity for the community and organisations to come together and raise funds for homelessness.
City of Casey Mayor Cr Geoff Ablett said homelessness is continuing to increase across the municipality and is often an issue that gets overlooked and misunderstood.
“Within our City we have over 1,280 people experiencing homelessness. The sleep out is an important opportunity to raise awareness within our community and encourage action,” he said.
“A range of local organisations, including food vans, crisis support centres and community groups will be attending the event to highlight the services they provide, and the increasing demand being placed on them.
“We hope that the event will allow us to not only raise valuable funds for homeless services in the local community, but also enable our community to gain a deeper understanding of homelessness and the realities being faced by people.
Cr Ablett encouraged the community to get behind the vent and help raise funds that can be put directly back into “providing much needed services within our local area”.
All donations and proceeds from ticket sales and merchandise will go to two homeless services in the local community, Wayss and Ermha.
Details: Saturday 11 August with tent setup starting from 4pm with the event starting from 6pm. A screening of the movie The Pursuit of Happyness will start at 8.30pm.
The sleepover will be held from 11pm on Saturday until 8am Sunday at Casey Fields Regional Athletics Centre, 160 Berwick-Cranbourne Road, Cranbourne East.
Cost: Family (two adults and two children) $25, adults $10 and children $5. Bookings: https://casey-homeless-sleepout.eventbrite.com.au.
