5 August 2021
While students all over Sydney were forced to learn from home during lockdown and much-anticipated school events were being cancelled everywhere, St Leo’s Catholic College, Wahroonga decided to ‘go bigger than ever’ with one event and make it a surprising highlight of lockdown for students and families.
St Leo’s has been involved with various St Vincent de Paul Society activities for over 20 years and a small but dedicated group of students participate in the Vinnies Winter Sleepout most years. The College has a strong community focus on social justice and looking after those worse off, so decided to press ahead with this year’s Sleepout setting a modest target to raise $2000 and awareness among students about homelessness by asking them to ‘sleep rough at home’.
Having developed a Leo’s in Lockdown theme and lion mascot to both focus communication and lighten the mood a little, the College decided to invest in producing ‘limited-edition’ purple beanies in the hope that it would attract more participants and raise more for Vinnies. The beanies were then ‘Covid-safely’ packed and dropped to student letterboxes by staff, building anticipation and excitement.
“At this particularly difficult time for everyone, we thought the Sleepout at home would work well as something to look forward to for students and a great distraction by focusing on the plight of others” said Principal, Tony Gleeson. “It certainly worked, with 60 students participating – three times the usual number – catching our whole community’s attention, uplifting everyone’s spirits and succeeding beyond all expectations.”
Students (and teachers) who signed up were asked to camp out in their backyards, verandas, garages or living rooms on the night of Friday, 30 July. They began the evening together via Zoom with a short documentary on homelessness, guest speakers, a trivia quiz, prayers and group encouragement. Many siblings and parents also participated, making it a family event, and students were also asked to create short ‘video diary’ reflections on the experience.
Intake 2021 (Year 7) student Max recorded in his video diary “My thoughts on homelessness are that I think it is a very sad thing and I think it’s important that we realise how lucky and blessed we are, and I think it’s great that we can help in some way, shape or form to raise money and awareness.”
At last count, the College had raised an astonishing $22,000, which they are working with Vinnies to allocate to local projects of most need combatting homelessness. To help, please visit fundraise.vinniesnsw.org.au and sponsor the St Leo’s team.