Sleep Out fundraiser raises $1.2 million for homeless youth

QUEENS (PIX11) -- More than 100 people are spending the night in sleeping bags at MetLife Stadium.

It is part of a nationwide fundraiser for Covenant House International, which helps provide shelter and wrap-around services for homeless youth.

At MetLife Stadium, about 150 people are taking part in the annual "Sleep Out" despite the rainy night. More than $1.2 million was raised.

CEO of Covenant House New Jersey, Julia Einbond says the money is needed to help a growing number of teens and young adults who are homeless, as well as survivors of human trafficking. "Last year, our total number of individuals served was up 20 percent, we went from 1,488 to 1,811 in just one year, and we right now have a waiting list of over 100 individuals in New Jersey."

Charnette Chamber, who was formerly homeless, says Covenant House New Jersey saved her life. "I was homeless in my freshman year of college when it just became too much to keep up. They've been a part of my life for the past 13 years and I'm still in the apartment they helped me secure 11 years ago."

Mario Shepard, who is one of the people taking part in the SleepOut, says "When you do the sleepout, you're entering into the situation that they may be in, so it becomes something where you never look at it the same and you view people differently now and you get a little bit of a small experience of what that was like."