Industry chiefs unite for 20th year of Vinnies sleepout

While homelessness in the Illawarra has reached unprecedented highs this year, the number of company leaders spending a night in the cold to combat the problem has risen from eight to 20.

As the 20th anniversary of the Vinnies CEO Sleepout approaches, veterans Danny Munk and Rodney Von Clark are again joining forces to raise awareness and vital funds for homelessness services in the Illawarra.

"The issue on homelessness isn’t diminishing,” Danny, CEO of Wests Illawarra, says. "Unfortunately, the Illawarra has the title for the most people sleeping rough and the highest level of domestic violence. It’s not a title we should be proud of."

This year marks Danny’s 12th year participating in the event, during which he has raised more than $359,500 for the community. Rodney, CEO of Flagstaff Group, is chalking up his sixth year of sleeping out to support the cause.

The duo's collaborative energy is paying off. This year, they have made leaps and bounds by growing the local participant list from eight people last year to 20.

"It’s not just a stereotypical homeless person that you may see," Rodney says. 

"I’m seeing families with young children, I’m seeing women who are escaping DV. There’s people that you would not expect to be having to use the services of Vinnies. It’s not an 'us and them' problem, it’s an 'us' problem."

In the past year, the St Vincent De Paul Society NSW has assisted more than 12,000 people and provided upward of $1.5 million in aid to those struggling in the Illawarra region.

Need is rising in the area, with calls to Vinnies Assist almost doubling from 83% of people seeking assistance from Vinnies about food, and 52% experiencing housing stress.

How they met

The partnership between Rodney and Danny began about five years ago, though the collaboration of Flagstaff and Wests has spanned 15 years, with Wests running initiatives to provide employment for Flagstaff’s people. 

“We have a lot in common in the sense of community leadership,” Rodney says. “Obviously the Wests Group have their clubs, but [Danny] also has a strong community leadership in the work we do with Vinnies. It’s also not lost on me that Wests support Flagstaff and other non-for-profits and charities, and it’s always on the front of his mind."

Rodney had been operations manager at Flagstaff under former CEO Roy Rogers, who was a founding member of the Wollongong Vinnies Sleepout Chapter. When Roy retired and Rodney stepped into the CEO role, Danny was pleased to see the momentum continue. 

“I’d met Rod a number of times through our relationship and what he was doing as ops manager... Roy and I certainly tried to work together as much as we could on the fundraising – Rod has continued that and he's been very enthusiastic about driving that collaboration,” Danny says.

Rodney recalls meeting Danny on a busy night at Wests, when even as the CEO, Danny was "working the floor", lending a helping hand to his staff. 

"My first impression was of a man of the same values where we have a role, but when it comes to getting hands-on, he's not above doing that as well. It’s been natural and organic, and it’s been very easy,” Rodney says.

Shared goals, different styles 

Despite their shared community values, the two leaders have very different ideas of what sleeping rough looks like. Rodney is an avid bushwalker who enjoys lightweight camping, while Danny says his version of roughing it is a bit more comfy.

"Rod is a gentleman who loves bushwalking, sleeping out under the stars, sleeping rough. I probably don't follow that particular mantra. My version of sleeping out rough is making sure that someone’s set up the tent for me and got a bunk down," Danny laughs. 

A decade ago, Rodney decided to stop riding motorcycles, while Danny is approaching retirement and still enjoys holidays with friends on his motorbike.

“Where he’ll be on two wheels with a motor, I’ll be running on the trails or hiking,” Rodney says.

Downtime differences aside, the impact of their work is tangible. In 2024 alone, the initiative raised more than $41,000 locally, which funded nourishing meals for the homeless and supported the wages of two part-time assistants for the Vinnies Food Van.

"One thing that we have in common ... is an acknowledgment of our privilege. We’re very fortunate to be in a position that we can actually contribute and also identify that our life experiences … we’re actually very comfortable,” Rodney says.

“We really want to raise awareness as in to as a society, if those that can support it to support it, because we're all one life event from being in a similar situation." 

"It's a people issue, it's a community issue, so we all should be involved ... it's about people helping people,” Danny says.

Get involved

Register or donate to the CEO Sleepout.

Donate to Danny Munk. Donate to Rodney Von Clark. 

Wests Illawarra is also taking donations of winter clothing as part of their Winter Warmers initiative. The community is invited to donate beanies, scarves, jumpers and other warm items for those doing it tough. Donations are accepted at Wests Illawarra and Flagstaff Group receptions.