Vinnies CEO Sleepout in Brisbane down to two contestants

The annual Vinnies CEO Sleepout in Brisbane has boiled down to a clash between a veteran of the event and a brash newcomer.

They say it’s not a competition to see who can raise the most money.

But let’s get real here. Of course it’s a competition.

The annual Vinnies CEO Sleepout in Brisbane this week has boiled down to a contest between a veteran of the event, who has rustled up more than $505,000 over the past decade, and a youthful tech Rich Lister doing it for just the third time.

Yes, it’s a battle for supremacy between Rowland communications supremo Geoff Rodgers and Uniti Wireless senior player Jordan Grives.

Geoff Rodgers

The latest tally on Tuesday showed that Rodgers had amassed his best-ever result of $63,211 in pledges, putting him in the city’s top spot and in third place nationally.

Interestingly, about half that amount has come from the charitable foundation overseen by billionaire coal baron Brian Flannery and his missus, Peggy.

But Grives, the 32-year-old whiz who has amassed an estimated $40m fortune, is not far behind and there’s still time to close the gap. He’s ginned up $55,371 to snare second place to date in Brisbane and is now placed fifth best across the country.

Their closest rival is Rodger Whitby, who heads up the St Baker Energy Innovation Fund and has pulled in just a tad over $21,000.

All these gents will be among a 200-strong crowd sleeping rough on Thursday night at the Vinnies men’s hostel in South Brisbane. Collectively, they have managed to raise more than $732,000, a figure likely to edge higher over the next few days.

Nationwide, about 1650 captains of industry will be dusting off their sleeping bags as part of the campaign, which has generated a bit over $5.85m so far, somewhat shy of the $8m target.

Vinnies launched the event 16 years ago and it’s become their biggest annual money spinner, even going virtual in 2020 during the pandemic lockdown.

Jordan Grives

In addition to accommodation and food, the charity also uses the funds for education, counselling, employment and health services.

Rodgers, who has participated in every sleep out since 2011, is now an “ambassador’’ for the event.

He said the loss of 234,000 jobs across the state during the pandemic made the fundraising even more vital this year.

“We are facing a crisis,’’ Rodgers noted recently.

“More than 21,000 Queenslanders experience homelessness on any given night, and sadly, many are young children. This is not just a worrying statistic, but a terrifying reality for our future generations.

“Thousands of Queenslanders are sleeping rough — many for the first time ever — with housing affordability stress only exacerbated by the effects of the pandemic.’’

Grives, who last took part in 2015 and 2016, said the event “fell off my radar’’ after the sale of his start-up telecommunications firm Fonebox five years ago for almost $30m.

Since then, he’s offloaded his Fone Dynamics business for $8.4m to Uniti Wireless and taken on a job as a senior executive with the internet services provider.

“Just recently I’ve been trying to slow down more in my personal life and reflect on what’s important,’’ the Ferrari-driving dynamo said.

“I found those memories at previous sleep outs still stayed with me all these years later, so I decided to put my hat in the ring once again for 2021.’’