Sleep Out: Camden Community Edition is a fundraiser that supports Covenant House New Jersey’s programs and services. Participants experience a night of conversation, contemplation, education and storytelling.
Moorestown High School students Alyssa Milligan, Olivia Barnes, Neeka Vojdani, Elena Ray and Ella Calamito participated in Sleep Out: Camden Community Edition earlier this year, helping to give homeless youth a brighter future.
Sleep Out: Camden Community Edition is a fundraiser that supports Covenant House New Jersey’s programs and services. Each participant is required to fundraise, and as of April 17, the school has raised more than $8,000.
“This is the year where the school has gotten the most involved, and I think that’s really great,” Barnes said. “And I want to see it go even further and more students do the Sleep Out, as well as donate to it, so it can grow every year.”
“I think this year we’re finding our way still and figuring out how best to get students involved, so I think that next year, we’ll have more of our footing, and it should hopefully be a lot bigger,” Milligan predicted.
“We definitely want to have it be a part of something that the school does year after year,” Vojdani offered, “so even after we graduate, it’s still something that is involved with the school population and the Moorestown community as a whole.”
Sleep Out events are hosted by Covenant House sites across North and Central America. Participants experience a night of conversation, contemplation, education and storytelling. This year’s Camden Community Edition took place at Holman Automotive in Mount Laurel. Money raised will fund vital services, including medical care, legal assistance, education opportunities, vocational training and therapeutic services.
“I think it was really eye opening, and I have a lot of empathy for everyone who’s gone through Covenant House, because they didn’t choose that,” Calamito noted. “Someone failed them prior, or something happened and they ended up in that situation. It’s great that Covenant House can help them get back on their feet and get a job.
“I think Covenant House is a really great organization for that,” she added, “but also, they’re people. They’re people like all of us, and this could happen to all of us. So I think it’s important that we have more empathy.”
“I was tossing and turning and I couldn’t get a good sleep like I usually do,” Ray recalled. “And knowing that with all of the extra resources that I had at my disposal in that situation, I still was uncomfortable for one night. That was just mind blowing for me that people have to experience that day after day.
“I feel a much higher sense of compassion for homeless people now, and I definitely want to see Covenant House and see Sleep Out continue at Moorestown High School.”
Covenant House is the largest, primarily privately funded charity in North and Central America. It provides immediate and long-term support for young people facing homelessness and survivors of trafficking.
Those interested in giving to the high school’s Covenant House donation website can visit https://www.sleepout.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.team&teamID=13347.
