On November 17, executives from Protravel International and Tzell Travel Group joined with nearly 200 other business leaders for Covenant House’s 6th Annual Executive Edition Sleep Out, an initiative to raise awareness and funds for homeless youth. Gail Grimmett, president of both Protravel and Tzell, led the combined team from both companies in joining with other C-suite execs, business owners and other leaders in sleeping on the street, at 460 West 41st Street in New York City, for one night. All totaled, the 187 participants raised $1,983,434 – surpassing their aggregated goal of $1.5 million.
“Everyone from Protravel and Tzell remains deeply committed to giving back to the communities we serve, and that begins right here on our home turf of New York, where thousands of youth are either sleeping on the streets or seeking shelter,” said Grimmett in a written release. “Because of our longstanding work with Covenant House, we chose to join with other business leaders in raising awareness for homeless youth in the efforts toward ensuring that they someday will no longer be left to sleep on the streets.”
As a champion for New York, Grimmett serves on the board for Covenant House International. In all, 25 business, civic and entertainment leaders comprise Covenant House’s Board of Directors. Founded in 1972, Covenant House is the largest privately-funded agency in the Americas; it provides loving care and vital services to homeless, abandoned, abused, trafficked and exploited children.
“We strongly encourage everyone who wants to join our efforts to donate to Covenant House and ‘get a homeless kid off the street today,’” Grimmett said. “Donations may be made by visiting www.covenanthouse.org/help-the-homeless.”