Last year’s Coldest Night of the Year event broke records by bringing in funds well over the $50,000 target.
“2019 was actually our best year yet. We had more than 250 walkers and we raised almost $90,000,” said Sara McCleary, marketing and fundraising coordinator at St. Vincent Place.
The event, hosted by St. Vincent Place, is a walk to support organizations that help the hungry, homeless, and hurting in the community.
“That’s exactly what we do here, so it’s a perfect fit,” McCleary said of the men’s shelter.
Since raising the record breaking amount last year, the money has been put to good use.
“It goes into our general funds - a lot of it goes toward helping stock the shelves in the food bank, we do get a lot of donations but we still have to purchase some goods there,” McCleary said.
“It also helps out with the shelter. We get some government funding but it’s not fully funded so it goes toward things like food for the guys, or if we need to replace blankets or that kind of thing.”
Coldest Night of the Year started in Sault Ste. Marie in 2013.
“Jen Sarlo is a volunteer (at St. Vincent’s) and she knows the director of Blue Sea Philanthropy which is the organization that coordinates Coldest Night of the Year around Canada. He approached her and asked if she wanted to help bring this to the Sault, she brought it to the board here, they loved the idea and we’ve been running it ever since,” McCleary told SooToday.
The walk-a-thon now takes place in over 133 locations across Canada.
“You can raise money before the event by collecting pledges from family, co-workers or friends,” McCleary said. “Then on the day of the event, you can choose to do a two, five, or ten kilometre walk.”
“On the day of the event people will come here, get registered, we do a mini send off, and then they walk the route that we’ve got set out. We’ll have volunteers along the way guiding people and then they return here and have chilli and sweet treats,” McCleary said.
This year’s Coldest Night of the Year event will be held on February 22, and you can register or donate to a team here.