(From left) Ginny Bjorkquist, Emma Solecki, Ryan Clark, Mayor Scott Aitchison, Adrian Laksmono, OPP Staff Sgt John Graham, and James Hunt slept outside to raise awareness about youth homelessness (Photo: @OPP_CR on Twitter)
(From left) Ginny Bjorkquist, Emma Solecki, Ryan Clark, Mayor Scott Aitchison, Adrian Laksmono, OPP Staff Sgt John Graham, and James Hunt slept outside to raise awareness about youth homelessness (Photo: @OPP_CR on Twitter)

Second annual Youth Council Sleep Out raises $1,000 for The Door’s youth housing initiative

More than $1,000 has been raised at the Huntsville Youth Council’s second annual Sleep Out event in support of The Door Youth Centre’s youth housing initiative.

Four students from Huntsville Youth Council (Ginny Bjorkquist, Ryan Clark, Adrian Laksmono, and Emma Solecki) along with Mayor Scott Aitchison and James Hunt, Director of The Door, slept outside for 24 hours in solidarity with homeless youth across Canada.

To help them stay warm, boxes were donated by MBRP, sleeping bags were supplied by Algonquin Outfitters and the Algonquin Café & Deli even dropped in to bring the volunteers food and hot chocolate.

The students created signs with shocking statistics that were displayed in front of the Algonquin Theatre: “1/4 Muskokan families struggle with poverty” and “Up to 40% of homeless youth are LGBTQ” and “The longer youth remain homeless the worse their health & life chances become”.

“There was a lot of citizen interaction,” said Clark. “People stopped by to ask us what we were up to and share their support for our project.”

It was a tough night sleeping in a box. But the most humbling part was realizing that it was just one night. At the end of our 24 hours we got to pack up and go back to our warm homes. This is not the reality for many people that are homeless.
Ryan Clark, Chair of the Huntsville Youth Council

Cardboard boxes donated by MBRP and sleeping bags supplied by Algonquin Outfitters were all the Youth Council and supporters had to keep warm (Photo: James Hunt)

Cardboard boxes donated by MBRP and sleeping bags supplied by Algonquin Outfitters were all the Youth Council and supporters had to keep warm (Photo: James Hunt)

More than $1,000 was donated to The Door through pledges, anonymous donations and cash drop-ins throughout the event. The money raised will go toward The Door’s Youth Housing initiative.

“I was struck by the level of passion and commitment the Youth Council exhibited,” said Hunt. “Here is a group of young people who see how the world could be made better and are willing to take actions necessary to make those changes happen.”

The Door is an organization run 100 per cent on donations so requires money from events such as this to keep the support they provide ongoing for the future.

If you would like to make a donation to The Door’s Youth Housing Initative, please contact James Hunt to make a donation either online or in person at james@highlandsyfc.com or 705-789-4748.

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