Melbourne schoolgirl joins Sydney sleepout
It was supposed to be a fun weekend in Sydney for Melbourne schoolgirl Noam Geffen…but instead of a comfortable sleepover at a Sydney friend’s home, Noam will spend Saturday night sleeping out in the cold at Randwick racecourse, experiencing the plight of the homeless.
Noam Geffen
16-yr-old Noam had planned to visit Sydney with her mother Ruth who is headed for the Blue Mountains to participate in the reunion of the Class of 1989 from Johannesberg’s King David School.
The plan was simple. Mum goes to the mountains and Noam stays with friends Gina and Nicole Abromowitz and Maxine Lorge. But Noam’s friends had committed to a sleepout at the iconic racecourse to raise awareness of homeless teenagers and to raise funds for The Jewish House’s emergency accommodation facility.
Jewish House CEO Rabbi Mendel Kastel told J-Wire: “We expected more than 100 students from Year 8 not only from Sydney’s Jewish day schools but from all schools attended by Jewish students….but I did not expect one from Melbourne!”
Noam Geffen lives in Caulfield South and attends Melbourne’s Mount Scopus College. She told J-Wire: “I am looking forward to this new experience and to meeting lots of new people.”
The students will sleep outside but undercover…many using cardboard as mattresses.
J-Wire is sponsoring the event and invites its readers to help Rabbi Kastel improve the lot of those who find themselves homeless…to help visit the Jewish House web site
