Sleepless San Diego, May 2nd, Huge Success!

Sleepless San Diego, a fundraiser event for the San Diego Rescue Mission, is in it's 3rd year, held at Liberty Station, raised over $350,000.



I have heard of Sleepless San Diego in the past, but volunteering to raise money, and take part in the event had never occurred to me until this year.



For people who have never heard of Sleepless, it is a fundraising event similar to a marathon fundraiser, in which participants take donations from friends and family, or other sponsors, except, instead of running a race, the participants sleep outdoors for one night, either on a cot, or, like I did, on the ground. It is held in a safe, contained environment, where they can sleep underneath the open sky while raising money for an extremely worthwhile charity.



I had only six days to raise the minimum contribution amount of fifty-five dollars in order to participate as a Sleeper. With Spring in full bloom, San Diego is, on a week by week basis, a city busy with events (charitable, or otherwise). I learned Sleepless was being held on May 2nd only the week before.



A few generous friends of mine donated just enough money for me to squeeze in at the minimum donation amount. I truly wish I had two or three more weeks of fundraising time to triple that amount of money, or more. My personal experiences with sleeping on the street, whether in my car, or without have fostered in me a deep empathy for homeless youth, homeless families, and the seriously drug addicted.



The San Diego Rescue Mission, as I understand it, is specifically catered to those three groups of people stricken with poverty.



The real challenge for me while living in my car, and collecting recycles out of city parks for a few dollars a day of spending money, was how to get to job interviews on time, be clean, (hygiene is a major concern for all people living on the streets, even for those not trying to openly impress anyone) and dressed appropriately for the interview.



I've used charities for my own needs very sparingly. Beside waiting in line at St. Vincent de Paul for their daily meal, and once, to my own detriment, taking a bag of food from Catholic Charities, I try not to use non-profit, non-government entities for any kind of assistance.



(When I explained to the staff of Catholic Charities that I was living in my car, and, therefore, had no refrigeration to store perishable food items, or stove to cook food on, they loaded me up with so many cans of pre-cooked, non-perishable food products, I injured both my arms carrying it, and was sore all over for weeks afterward. My car was parked near the Zoo; out of gas, or broken down, or whatever. This is just one of many, many stupid things I did the first six months or so of finding out exactly how difficult it is for the poorest members of our society to get help in this fine city.)



I used only these two non-profits the entire time I was house-less last year, for two specific reasons; the first is, that while not raised Catholic, it is the only type of church service I have attended in my life because close friends, both in childhood, and in adulthood are Catholic. This fact, in of itself, excused me from feeling any remorse in taking free food from a Catholic sponsored organization, because I had dined at so many Catholic weddings, and other events in years past that it seemed quite natural to sign up to accept personal donations from them.



The second reason, however selfish this may seem, is because the fare at St. Vincent de Paul, on the majority of days I ate there, was really good. Especially, compared to eating a can of cold beans or canned vegetables for breakfast.



I only took one issue with the amenities provided to us fundraisers at Sleepless; the website stated that bottled water would be provided to people that were unable to bring their own, which it was not. Starbucks did provide free coffee, however. So, it was hard to complain about anything when I learned about that.



The most interesting idea the organizers of Sleepless came up with was the Build A Shelter tent that supplied cardboard and plastic bags for people to construct sleeping shelters out of. I thought this was a great activity, especially for children or teens to partake in. I believe it encouraged a certain understanding of why it is people sleeping on the street are encased in cardboard, or fully wrapped in plastic. Though it never rained, and it was a little warmer than I expected it to be, if it had even sprinkled, the cardboard huts that people built over themselves would have been very useful. There was a consistent patience, and virtue for humanity perpetuated by the organizers for the fundraisers to experience; the Build A Shelter activity I considered especially clever because a physical activity for people to participate in that directly related to the cause people had come out to support.



Here is the rescue mission's website- http://www.sdrescue.org/ I think they are taking donations for next year's Sleepless event, and I am sure they are taking general contributions year round.