Okay, maybe it wasn't all that chilly - but for Greater Sudbury and 140 communities across Canada, Saturday, Feb. 22 was the Coldest Night of the Year.
This was the city's ninth time participating in the annual Coldest Night of the Year fundraising campaign, hosted across the country in support of local charity partners who serve and support the country's most vulnerable.
The event began, as it has for several years, with a reception of food, live music as well as presentations by the Samaritan Centre and local dignitaries at the Rainbow Centre. After this, participants were invited to take part in a 2km or 5km walk through downtown Sudbury.
There were 213 participants in the event this year, along with 44 volunteers, whose combined efforts raised a total of $69,829 for the Samaritan Centre.
"It's great to see everyone gathering together to celebrate what we've done, what we're doing and what lies ahead," said Lisa Long, recently appointed executive director of the Samaritan Centre.
The Samaritan Centre is a non-profit organization that offers an overnight cold weather alert warming centre, laundry facilities, bathroom facilities and a hairdresser, as well as housing community partners - the Blue Door Soup Kitchen and Elgin Street Mission.
Every day, between 300 and 400 people access one or more services at the centre, said Long, bringing the average annual attendance to around 146,000.
"If we didn't exist, there would be a huge gap in services in the city of Greater Sudbury," said Long.
Those interested in supporting the Greater Sudbury Coldest Night of the Year campaign are welcome to do so online until the end of March. An additional $325 has been raised thus far, bringing the total to $70,154.
The Samaritan Centre also graciously accepts both monetary and in-kind donations throughout the year.
Find more information on the Samaritan Centre and its services can be found on their Facebook page or by phoning 705-669-0111.
Top Walkers:
- Tony Perry, team Glad Tidings Church - raised $5,060
- Allain Labelle, team Innova Wealth Partners - raised $4,925
- Kim Ann Monaghan, team Gramma's SOUP-A-STARS - raised $4,545
- Cliff Richardson, team Innova Wealth Partners - raised $3,260
Top Teams:
- Lansing Avenue Baptist Chapel - raised $9,603.25
- Innova Wealth Partners - raised $8,185
- Glad Tidings Church - raised $7,840
- Gramma's SOUP-A-STARS - raised $6,585
