Concrete floor, a cup of soup and a bread roll was what Greek Australian CEOs were faced with on Thursday night as they took part in the 2013 Vinnies CEO Sleepout, an event organised by St Vincent de Paul to raise awareness for the issue of homelessness in Australia.
All over the nation, Greek Australian CEOs spent the night in the cold to raise much needed funds for homeless Australians, but did so with the ever-present crisis in Greece at the forefront of their minds.
Georgios Kotzageridis, CEO of GSK group of companies, was one of the Victorian CEOs who took part in the Sleepout and has done so two years in a row, stating he will continue to do so in the future hoping more Greek Australian CEOs get involved.
“It’s just one night of our lives where we experience sleeping on a concrete floor and eat what homeless people eat in order to understand what the homeless go through,” Mr Kotzageridis tells Neos Kosmos.
“We live in luxury and this is one way to understand the suffering they are faced with as homelessness can happen to anyone,” he said. Mr Kotzageridis also supports charities such as World Vision, Blue Ribbon and Good Friday Appeal, as in his own words he says “God gives, we spread”.
The Sleepout highlights the plight of those experiencing homelessness and asks CEOs and community leaders to rise to the challenge and experience homelessness for a single night. By doing this, CEOs will help raise awareness of homelessness in Australia. All money raised from the event will directly assist Vinnies’ homeless services.
In Victoria, Mr Kotzageridis raised a grand total of $11,000 for the homeless people of Australia. The highest fundraiser for Greek Australian CEOs went to St George Banking Group CEO George Frazis, who raised $111,239.91 in the Vinnies CEO Sleepout in NSW.
Other Greek Australian CEOs who participated included: James Kydas, Principal P2 Group; Paul Nicolaou, Australian Hotels Association; John Nicolades, Bridge Housing Limited; Sophie Cotsis, Shadow Minister for Housing, NSW Parliament; George Kazangi, BlueCentral; Alex Apostolopoulos, Dream Centre Inc.; Anthony Zalakos, Recovre; Maria Efkarpidis, Rock Development Group; Nick Nonas, Nova Multimedia; George Roussos, Roussos Legal Advisory; Bill Vasiliou, Chris’ Supa IGA; John Papa, JP Cabinets; Stephen Lazarakis, Rotary International; and Chris Andreas, Cognizant Technology Solutions Australian Pty Ltd.
For more information on the Vinnies CEO Sleepout and to donate visit http://www.ceosleepout.org.au/