Team Fort Knox build a house of boxes
As a proud partner and supporter of Melbourne City Mission and the Sleep at the G event since 2013 our team continue to challenge themselves every year to help raise awareness for youth homelessness.
While youth homelessness is a serious and frightening reality within our society, it can be a difficult topic to discuss as it can be a confronting issue for those who are less aware. What the Melbourne City Mission successfully executes is adding an element of fun and creativity to create a more accessible and open conversation about youth homelessness to encourage help and gain a wider awareness. To achieve this, they have created the annual Sleep at the G event which brings together homeless youth and the support of the community to help put homelessness to bed.
In Victoria alone, more than 7,000 young people are experiencing homelessness, Melbourne City Mission is doing an excellent job and trying to tackle this. On Thursday the 4th of May, we at Fort Knox alongside 7,000 young people and 1,000 others from all walks of life, joined in unity and slept on a cardboard box at the MCG.
Melbourne City Mission asked Fort Knox to do something creative with our boxes for this year’s event, after a strong brain storming session we created the Fort Knox Home Makers Competition. What better way to inspire people to join the competition than to build a shelter ourselves? So, we set out to build a house of Fort Knox boxes.
Our Storage Experts did us proud (as expected) and executed a fabulous display house to welcome people as they arrived at the gates of the iconic MCG. Constructed from over 110 document boxes, 8 Fort Knox big boxes and of course some of our very popular Fort Knox little boxes our house was created. Complete with a chimney, fireplace, bed, table and chair, family photos, curtains and even some flowers our house certainly had a homely feel.
Fort Knox Self Storage House Display
All sleepers were given the opportunity to design their own little shelter with one of our Fort Knox Big Boxes. They were judged on creativity, homeliness and stability. There were some very imaginative shelters, with one team expressing their creative side producing a garden wall completed with a painted fence, and a collage of beautiful flowers.
Our team judged all the shelters and awarded 6 finalists. The final winner was presented an award by Melbourne City Mission CEO Vicki Sutton. With a fully enclosed two-bedroom shelter, complete with a red carpet welcome mat, the final winners were two young men from William Buck.
Fort Knox House Display Winners Sleep at the G
As the night continued we heard first hand from three very inspiring young homeless people who courageously shared their personal battles of being homeless and the wider challenges they face other than having a place to call home. It was an incredible experience. Our team of sleepers together with the management team at Fort Knox Self Storage would like to thank everyone who supported us in helping put youth homelessness to bed. Together with the support of our family, friends and suppliers our group of 11 have raised an incredible $10,466.
If you would like more information on youth homelessness visit Melbourne City Mission.