In the Mayor’s Lights Out Sleepout this Friday (August 11), he will bunker down at Bankstown Airport Passenger Terminal – all in the name of a good cause.
Together with Mission Australia and Bankstown Airport (Aeria Management Group), the sleepout will raise funds for vital services to support those experiencing or at risk of homelessness.
Mayor El-Hayek wants other leaders to join him and experience what it’s like to sleep rough on a cold winter’s night.
“I want to raise awareness about the plight of homelessness in our City,” Mayor El-Hayek said.
“On any given night, there are thousands of men, women and children who are forced to sleep in cars or ‘couch surf’ because of their circumstances.
“It’s a heartbreaking situation that is hard to comprehend in an affluent country like ours. And that reality bites harder as the cold winter nights take hold.”
According to the latest census data, homelessness has nearly doubled in Canterbury-Bankstown since 2011, with a lack of affordable housing, drug and alcohol abuse and a rise in domestic and family violence the root causes.
You can get involved or make a donation at cb.city/MayorsSleepout.
