TEAM PRINT RAISES $46k+ FOR HOMELESS AUSSIES

Team Print, led by Print and Visual Communication Association (PVCA) treasurer and The Lamson Group CEO, Rodney Frost, raised $46,000 for the homeless, through the Vinnies CEO Sleepout campaign.

Vinnies CEO Sleepout is a one-night event, held this year on 22 June, during one of the coldest nights of the year, and saw a thousand CEOs, business owners, and community and government leaders show up to sleep outdoors, without shelter, in support of Australians who are experiencing homelessness.

This year, Team Print consisted of Frost, IVE Group's Sean Smith, Morgan Shaw Advisory's Graham Morgan, Pegasus Media & Logistics' Michael Schulz, Conor Ward and Brian Wood from Konica Minolta, and Smartcomm's Rod Peirce.

Each participant commits to raising a minimum amount of funds to help Vinnies provide products and services to those in need. 

This is the third time the PVCA has formed a national team to participate and raise funds, and this year, as of writing, Team Print has successfully raised a whopping $46,082 for homeless Australians, just short of its goal of $50,000.

“This is my fifteenth event, and it is always good dragging new people along to raise money and also to raise awareness on the issue of homelessness, to try and take the stigma away from it,” Frost told Print21.

“My father was homeless as a young man, that’s why I am so attached to this cause, and always aim to do whatever I can to try and give those in this position some support and a hand up.

“During the night, we also heard from those that have come out of the other side of homelessness, thanks to Vinnies, who all shared their stories with us, so we can all learn about their struggles and experiences, and how they bounced back.” 

The funds raised across the night are accounted and audited separately from other St Vinnies charity fundraisers, and do not go into general funds, but instead go straight to programmes and facilities for those less fortunate and sleeping rough on the street. 

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, 116,000 Australians are currently experiencing homelessness. Of these, 60 per cent are under 35, with 44 per cent female, and 13 per cent are less than 12 years old.