Dr. Eric Becoats settles in for the night.
Last night, Triangle community leaders made a statement on poverty by forgoing their comfortable, warm beds at home to sleep on the pavement of the VIP parking lot at DPAC.
The United Way of the Greater Triangle hosted the CEO Sleepout, which was meant to draw attention to those who live in poverty. That includes the 2,000 homeless people who sleep on the Triangle’s streets on any given night and the more than 203,000 people who live at or below the poverty level – 65,000 of those are children under the age of 18.
The CEOs and other Triangle leaders participated in panel and small group discussions, made sandwiches to deliver to a local rescue mission and shared their thoughts on possible solutions for poverty. They also raised money to ‘purchase’ comforts for the night such as a sheet of cardboard to sleep on ($250), a blanket ($500), etc. In reality, the money went to United Way partner agency programs that help people with their basic needs. The sleepout raised more than $33,000.
Check out our slideshow of a few of the CEOs during their night on the streets.
