Don Romano, the president and CEO of Hyundai Canada, and Kirk Merrett, its director of human resources, spent a cold, winter night on the streets of Toronto to raise awareness about youth homelessness. Along with raising awareness, they also raised CAD$100,000 ($78,059 USD) for the 360ºkids charity.
Romano and Merrett, who is on the board of the charitable organization, spent the night on the street as part of its 360ºExperience fundraiser, which asks housed people to consider the realities of homelessness, especially in Canada’s cold climes. The organization uses the money raised by the event to support programming for at-risk and homeless youth and to support its vision of a world in which every child has access to a safe home.
The 360ºExperience took place on March 3, with opportunities for participation both in-person and remotely, because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Each virtual participant had to raise a minimum of CAD$100 ($78 USD) and each in-person participant had to raise $2,000 ($1,561 USD). In addition to the executives’ participation, Hyundai dealerships across Canada came together to donate CAD$100,000 to 360ºkids.
Read Also: Ford To Auction One-Off Bronco To Support The Pope Francis Center In Detroit
“I am so proud of the efforts of our dealers in making this fundraising initiative a success,” said Romano. “360ºkids does important work that is truly life-changing for the youth they serve. We are thrilled to be making this donation and humbled to be supporting an organization that creates such a tangible impact for youth in Canada.”
With that money, 360ºkids will be able to support kids in crisis with housing, employment, food security, counseling, education support, and more.
“360°kids is extremely grateful for the unbelievable support of this year’s 360°Experience by Team Hyundai Canada. They’ve done what no other organization has with this event, in terms of engagement and fundraising – a model for other organizations to follow to address such an important and often overlooked issue of youth homelessness,” said Clovis Grant, CEO of 360°kids.” I am very thankful to Hyundai Canada for helping to shed light on this need and right this wrong in our community.”
