The annual Sleep Cheap, Charities Reap event raised $175,988 this year, which pushes its eight-year total to over $1-million. The organizers (who include Mayor Jim Diodati and Dino Dicienzo Jr. of Canadian Niagara Hotels) had no idea of just how successful the program would become when they first started it. They are extremely proud of the fact that 100% of the money raised goes directly to local Niagara charities.
“This is one of the benefits we have of living in a tourist town for all the locals,” said Diodati
A record 7,800 room nights were offered to Niagara region residents by twenty-seven hotels as a way of letting them know what’s available and hopefully spreading the word when family and friends visit the area.
A portion of the funds are provided to the Niagara Community Foundation, where the money is put into income-earning endowment funds that benefit local charities. The remainder is directed to charities selected by the 2011 Sleep Cheap, Charities Reap Committee through an application process and an option for individual hotels to direct funds.