Essex High School participated in the Spectrum Sleep Out for the second year, and raised over $500 this year for our youth. The following is a reflection from one student who slept out. It’s reprinted here with permission.

First of all, one challenging part was figuring out how I was going to stay on top of my homework and participate in this event because I typically do homework until 10pm. It took a lot of focused work ahead of time to make sure I had enough work done for school on Friday. It made me think about all the extra thinking ahead of time that someone would have to do if they didn’t have a steady or constant home to go to every night.

I was not cold sleeping outside, but I did have the advantage of a nice sleeping bag on a relatively warm night on dry ground. It made me thankful that my family has the ability to buy sleeping bags to go on vacations, but other people buy them as means of survival. It was hard, however, to sleep with all the bright lights and noise (from cars and other students).

Friday at school was really hard because I felt really tired and also kind of dirty and gross. It is so much harder to go to school without getting to wake up and take a shower and go through your normal morning routine. I struggled to stay focused during the day because I was tired.

Overall, this was a really gratifying experience that taught me about being comfortable and being uncomfortable, and it also gave me some perspective on what homeless teens face on an everyday basis. I am looking forward to participating in this event next year!

The post Reflections from the Essex Sleep Out appeared first on Spectrum Youth & Family Services.

From left, Donna Aiken, Ray Racine, Keith Flaherty, Dylan Kerkes, Dan Maxwell, and Annette Delphia, of Hallam-ICS.

This is a guest blog post written by Ray Racine, Senior Control Systems Engineer at Hallam-ICS. It was first published on their blog.

On Thursday, March 23, six of our Hallam-ICS crew slept out for Spectrum. Donna Aiken, Annette Delphia, Dylan Kerkes, Keith Flaherty, Dan Maxwell and myself “braved the elements” for this great cause. Wednesday night got down to about 5 degrees (F); so 25 degrees on Thursday night was a blessing indeed.

Spectrum is a local organization focused on helping homeless teens and young adults. From a safe place to sleep, to counseling, to basic medical care; this fantastic group is dedicated to helping youth turn troubled lives around and grow into healthy, independent adults.

It is sobering to consider that in a small place like Vermont, this group serves over 2,000 young adults a year in the Burlington area. That’s 2,000 kids in really bad situations that Spectrum helps.

This was year six for their Sleep Out, which is one of their major fundraisers. The event raised over $347,000. Our team members were able to raise just over $7,000, which Hallam-ICS matched. That made our contribution over $14,000.

Executive Director Mark Redmond rallies the crowd.

So how does the Sleep Out work? We arrived at the rally point around 9PM. Pizza, soda, and coffee were served by local businesses. (Coffee, are you kidding me? I don’t want to have to get out of my sleeping bag until morning.) Mark, the director of Spectrum, gave a great pep talk. Everybody introduced themselves and their group affiliation. Then, one of the young people that has recently stepped into good, full-time, work—after a rough patch—gave her personal story of Spectrum. Really reminded everybody why they were there. Then, off to the outdoors.

We had a couple of feet of snow recently; so our sleeping area was nice and crunchy. Vermont Tent set up two big canopies (tents with no sides) and laid tarps on the ground. Everyone spread out to stake their spot. Cardboard as a ground mat provided insulation from the ice beneath the big tarps.

Under the tents, we bedded down for the night.

How did we sleep? Funny you should ask.

I run pretty warm; so I did not suffer from the cold—that was, until I rolled off of my matt and started melting ice. But, between the symphony of snoring, the crunching of ice underfoot, and the hourly ringing of the church bells, sleep was scarce. However cheer was in great abundance.

Thanks to the team, the employee-owners of Hallam-ICS, & our sponsors for helping to make this event so successful!

The post Sleep Out for a Cause appeared first on Spectrum Youth & Family Services.

This post originally appeared on the Vermont Gas blog.

The Vermont Gas CARE (Community Action & Rewarding Empowerment) program is all about bringing out employees together to support important community causes. Our work is about more than just corporate giving, it’s about engaging our team to get involved and give back.

Vermont Gas, for the second year, is a sponsor of the Spectrum Sleep Out at the silver level. The overnight event taking place this Thursday, March 23, to raise money to provide homeless and at-risk youth the services they need to build future success and independence. The CARE team wanted to engage our employees in joining the fundraising effort and they stepped up in a big way.

So, how can a pie help empower Vermont teenagers and young adults?

Last week, Vermont Gas employees celebrated National Pi Day (3.14) by hosting a pie fundraiser for Spectrum. Employees baked and bought 16 of the sweetest pies to raise money for the Sleep Out. In all, the pies raised $230. But our employees didn’t stop there.

Not only does March bring us Pi Day but it’s also March Madness—and we have some serious college hoops fan here so we raised another $340 for Spectrum in our annual company-wide NCAA March Madness Bracket Challenge. The winner receives bragging rights and an additional modest donation to the charity of their choice.

We’re fortunate to have jobs that afford us a safe and warm place to live and plenty of nourishing food–like our delicious pies–to eat, and we want that for all of our neighbors. So, the CARE team and our generous employees have come together, added a little fun and friendly competition, all to donate over $3,000 to support Spectrum.

The CARE Team helps guide where Vermont Gas donates its money and time and aligns Vermont Gas’ community giving and philanthropic efforts with the company’s vision and values. Next up is Green Up Day! Until then…

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