When Angelique Boileau got home from holiday this June, she had a broken foot, a suitcase to unpack — and five working days to fundraise for the Vinnies CEO Sleepout.
This was her fourteenth year participating in the event, which raises funds for St Vincent de Paul’s work with people experiencing homelessness. She’s likely its longest-serving South Australian ambassador. “Every year after ten, I kept saying this is my last year,” she admits. “But I just know how important it is. I can’t say no to them.”
With no time for a long campaign, she turned to the friends and supporters who have backed her year after year. By the night of the event on Thursday 18 June, she had reached her $10,000 target — which the Boileau Family Foundation matched. And by the time donations closed on 30 June, the total had climbed to $25,000.
The broken foot meant she couldn’t sleep out this year — she attended the event until late in the evening before heading home. “I have to be honest about that,” she says.
There was something fitting about the venue, too. The 2026 SA Sleepout was held at Adelaide Zoo — the fourth time the zoo has opened its gates for the event. Years ago, it was Angelique who first brought Zoos SA and Vinnies together, an introduction that grew into the partnership South Australia’s business leaders now sleep under the stars for each winter.
The need behind the event keeps growing. Around 7,500 South Australians experience homelessness or sleep rough every night. Funds raised through the SA Sleepout — which set a target of $800,000 this year — go directly to Vinnies’ Women’s Crisis Centre, Men’s Crisis Centre, the Fred’s Van food service, and tailored support for individuals and families. Nationally, the 2026 event raised a record $10 million, the highest total in its history, bringing the tally to nearly $110 million since the first Sleepout in 2006.
That women’s crisis support is close to the Foundation’s heart — our own project with Vinnies, a new women’s shelter, is already underway. More on that soon.
If you’re a business leader in South Australia, consider this your invitation to next year’s Sleepout. Angelique will be there. She always is.
