Broadway Community Sleeping Out To Raise Money For Homeless Youth

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- On Monday, almost 80 members of the Broadway community, including some of its biggest stars, will sleep on the streets of New York City for the fourth consecutive year.

They're hoping to raise $350,000 for the homeless youth at Covenant House.

In an interview in the Adorama Live Theater, Tony-nominated actress Stephanie Block told 1010 WINS' Sharon Barnes-Waters that the Broadway community was compelled to do something to help raise awareness and money for the homeless teens who were living near the Theatre District.

"We call Broadway our home and we pass the Covenant House almost daily," Block said. "We're blocks away from this wonderful building that houses these amazing children -- that perhaps we are walking by every day. And what can we do? And we thought OK well, we've toughed it before, we can sleep out on the streets."

Block said the idea behind sleeping on the streets is so that the homeless kids don't have to. They are not pretending that they know what it feels like to be homeless, but they just want to let the kids know that "we see you, we recognize you; you are worthwhile to us and worthwhile to what we are doing and we hope we make a bit of a change."

Block was joined by Kevin Ryan, the President & CEO of Covenant House International. He said the  Broadway community is "big-hearted and they have enormous empathy for what our young people are experiencing."

Other Broadway stars, directors, technicians and behind-the-scenes professionals will take part in the event.

They are raffling off Broadway tickets to several shows including the megahit "Hamilton," as well as the taping of "Newsies," which Disney is doing in Los Angles.

For more information, visit www.broadwaysleepout.org.