Coldest Night filling in the gaps

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This article was published 17/02/2017 (3249 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Rather than sitting inside, over 120 Winnipeggers have already signed up for the Coldest Night of the Year—a walking fundraiser that supports RaY (Resource Assistance for Youth, Inc.).

The annual fundraiser — set to take place in Winnipeg’s downtown on Feb. 25 — is nationally-run, with events taking place at over 150 Canadian locations. This is its third year in Winnipeg, and RaY has once again applied to be the non-profit beneficiary. In addition to raising much-needed funds for the organization, the event is meant to get people thinking about what it would be like to be on the streets during a Winnipeg winter.

“We don’t pretend it’s the same,” Monica Derksen, Coldest Night of the Year event director, said. “But it’s a reminder of what people could be experiencing, even if for a short period of time.

“I do think people get it. People know it’s a challenging experience. We have a warm-up spot for people to grab a cup of coffee and it’s that contrast of coming in from the cold, you know you still have to go out again, you’re only halfway.

“At the end, we provide a simple, hot meal… it’s sort of a reminder that even if it’s simple, it’s good enough and it helps.”

Last year’s event raised $50,000 for RaY, which is this year’s goal as well. The tracks are broken up into two-, five- and 10-kilometre routes, with the group walking together for as long as possible. Since it’s a walking event, it’s meant to be accessible to people of all ages. Folks can sign up individually or in groups of any size.

This year’s largest group is MTS, with 34 members — the fourth largest in Canada.

“Everyone’s welcome to walk,” Derksen said. “We’ve got a general RaY team, if you still want to walk and don’t want to be on your own, we have that catch-all team… it’s all walked together. It’s a group activity, not a race.”

This year’s walk starts at the Hydro building on Portage Avenue, heads east towards Main Street, south down Fort Street and west down Broadway. For the first time, this year RaY will be a warming spot for walkers.

“People can pop their heads in and see what RaY looks like,” RaY executive director Kelly Holmes said.

She added that fundraisers like this are an important resource for their non-profit, because the money raised is not attached to any funding outcomes.

“We have to raise money other than what we get from the government,” Holmes said. “There is always a need for things that don’t get funded, like staff development.”

“When they get grants or specific sponsors, they have to write specific reports or meet criteria, whereas this is like, whatever you raise, you get to use,” Derksen said. “This can be used to fill in the gaps of whatever they need to, like the heating bill.”

Derksen added that although it’s a national fundraiser, Winnipeg especially takes pride in gearing up for the cold and walking for a good cause.

“It’s such a Winnipeg thing,” she said. “We take pride in doing the 10k in cold weather. Even when it was too cold, some people just did it… We take pride in our ability to do that.”

For more information, visit canada.cnoy.org/location/winnipeg