Carson Graham students raise $10K in overnight success

Carson Graham students smashed their own expectations, raising more than $10,000 for Covenant House recently.

Approximately 40 brave sleepers, most of them from Carson Graham’s leadership program, laid a square of cardboard over the pavement, bundled up in sleeping bags, and spent the night outside on Dec. 6.

The event had raised $10,255. Almost all the donations ranged between $25 and $100. The class initially set a fundraising goal of $2,000.

The money is earmarked for Covenant House, an agency for homeless youth who have fled abuse or been forced from their homes.

In Vancouver, there are between 500 and 1,000 youth living on the streets but the issue of homelessness is not confined to the Downtown Eastside, notes Rob Olson, the teacher who organized the sleepout.

Many youth living on the streets have suffered – or are suffering trauma – related to drug addiction, a death in the family, or their own mental health challenges, Olson said before the sleepout.

“It doesn’t just raise money for Covenant House, it raises awareness of what’s going on in the lives of some of our youth.”