A group of Orange business people are gearing up to spend one of the longest and coldest nights of the year camped out in the CBD.
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On June 23, a team from Business Orange will sleep at the front of Groundstone Cafe in Byng St, with only a sleeping bag or swag to keep them warm overnight, giving them a taste of what it feels like to be homeless.
They'll be joined by hundreds of other business owners, CEOs and community leaders across the country who are taking part in the annual Vinnies CEO Sleepout to raise fund for those experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness.
Those signed up for the Orange team so far include new Business Orange president Daniel Sutton, Worklocker Orange owner and Orange City Councillor Jack Evans, Games n More owner and Business Orange Vice President Nic Drage, Mitch Colton of Colton Computer Technologies. Katie Baddock of Groundstone Cafe, Meghan Hibbert and Orange City Council CEO Dave Waddell.
It's the second year Business Orange has participated in the Vinnies CEO sleepout - the 2021 team raised almost $30,000 for Vinnies when they slept out last year.
Business Orange president Daniel Sutton the issue was even more relevant this year.
"From what we're hearing around town...the situation has just gotten worse with homelessness because of housing shortages and what's going on with the delays in getting houses built," he said.
"Winter's a rough time for people and we know people are living in extremely harsh conditions."
"It's only one night for us but some people don't have a choice and they're stuck in that situation for months and years.
"We feel it's a bit of a reality check for us and we can take away form information from that and pass it onto the business community and the council and see what we can do to try and improve conditions for people."
Business Orange Vice-President Nic Drage said increasing awareness around homelessness was another important aspect of the sleepout.
"A lot of the time as we're going about our daily life (homelessness) is not something we take that much notice of.
"Last year we had a lot of people come and ask us 'what's happening?' and we were able...to bring awareness to the fact that there are homeless people that need our support."
To donate to the Business Orange team visit ceosleepout.org.au and search for the Business Orange team.
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