Before they crawled into the boxes and sleeping bags and began what was for many of them a sleepless or fitful night, they lit a candle of hope, sang and prayed for the more than 5,000 metro Detroit youths who wander the street on any given night in search for a warm bed, a hot meal and someone to care. The executives also heard many of the young people tell their stories about how they found the Covenant House and now are taking control of their lives.
Each of the executives raised money from donors who supported their sleep out. So far they brought in $345,000 for Covenant House. Those dollars were put to work immediately to help Covenant House provide basic needs like a hearty meal, a warm bed, and safe shelter for those homeless children.
The Covenant House Michigan also accepted socks, wash cloths, towels, full-size toiletries, gift cards and monetary donations at the event.
“I accept the challenge to sleep out with Covenant House,” Alberts said on his donation page. “It will be uncomfortable. It will be dark. But for one night I can give up the comforts of home knowing that – by doing so – I can bring warmth and hope to young people who need it most. Thousands of kids spend each night on the unforgiving streets of our great cities. Countless others are staying with relatives or friends, dreading the day when there is no one else to take them in. And one night can make a difference.”
“Sleeping out is really a wake-up call,” he said. For example, assembling the two boxes into a bed is no easy task. Many of those sleeping out had to ask the young people who live at the Covenant House, who were warm and toasty inside, to come out and show them how to put the boxes together to get the best benefit.
There’s another catch. If you’re claustrophobic sleeping head first in the box can be a big problem, Alberts said.
Then there’s the concrete. “The concrete is the worst part,” he said. “It is cold and hard. To sleep on it from 11 (PM) to 6 (AM) seems like an eternity. If I slept two hours I’d be surprised.”
This year that concrete was a little warmer than last year, the first time Alberts slept out. It was balmy 34 degrees compared with the bone-chilling single-digit temperatures in
2014.
Besides Alberts, executives from more than 50 companies and organizations, including Delta Airlines, Deloitte, Microsoft, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, Comerica Bank and the City of Detroit, braved the hard, cold cement to help raise awareness and dollars for the homeless. Those who slept out were:
http://blog.thedetroithub.com/2015/12/02/local-execs-sleep-in-boxes-out-in-the-cold-and-raise-345000-to-help-homeless-youth/
