In a community give-back effort, the Surrey-based restaurant group, Joseph Richard Group recently raised over $105,000 with a company-wide Sleep Out yesterday that saw funds going to Covenant House Vancouver.

The effort involved 97 restaurant group employees sleeping outside of three different restaurant locations last week. The employees drummed up plenty of donations by enticing people with a $25 gift card for every $50 each person donated. Anyone who provided a donation of $1,000 or more were offered a special private dinner experience to be cooked by Matthew Stowe (Top Chef Canada season three winner and the company's culinary operations chef) and David Jorge (corporate chef and MasterChef Canada season two winner).

“The fact that we were able to get 97 of our employees to take time away from their family and friends to fundraise and spend a cold night on the street to help those less fortunate speaks volumes about the tremendous people we have working for us. Despite heavy rain and wind that caused havoc across the Lower Mainland, not one of them quit. We are incredibly proud of our team and also very thankful to the many people and customers that supported all of us...We look forward to making this an annual event for our company and growing it even further.”

Each year, Covenant House Vancouver provides shelter, food, clothing and counselling to 1,400 young people through its Daily Drop-In, street outreach, and residential programs. This substantial donation will have a significant impact on the initiative's annual operations.