A little support goes a long way for the Table Soup Kitchen Foundation
For Katy McGregor, participating in the Table Soup Kitchen Foundation’s Coldest Night of the Year walk has become an annual tradition. She’s been putting together a team and raising funds since the walk started five years ago.
“The Table holds a special spot in my heart,” said McGregor, owner of Northern Disposal and Sanitation. “You can see there is a need for their services and if the community doesn’t support it, we won’t have it.”
McGregor wants to help create awareness for the event and said it’s easier to raise funds when you have a group of people versus one person asking the community for help. The walk is the foundation’s largest fundraiser of the year and raises funds for the hungry, hurting and homeless.
McGregor’s personal goal is to raise $1,000 and she’s close with about $850 pledged so far. She recognizes it’s a hard time of year to ask people for monetary donations but has garnered quite a bit of support by posting on social media and simply asking people to forgo their daily coffee for a week and donate that money instead.
“It’s a terrible time of the year to ask for sponsorship – we’re just getting over Christmas, people are laid off and things become really tough. But in order to raise awareness about people having nowhere to go in the cold, you need to do this in the cold,” she said. “People need to understand even if you can’t give a large sponsorship, $10 means the world to The Table. It shows them the community cares and they’re doing everything they can to help out.”
As a volunteer with the foundation, McGregor has seen first hand just how quickly the supplies go from the shelves to those in need.
“I remember organizing – clothing, books, baby accessories, kitchen supplies – for five hours and going back the next week and seeing half the stuff was already gone. If people don’t experience it themselves they don’t understand the need that is out there.”
For McGregor walking the 10 km route is when it really starts to sink in just how challenging it is for those struggling to find warm shelter.
“One year it was so slushy and the bottom of my snow pants were retaining so much water, it felt like lifting 50-pound weights. I remember thinking, being out here in the cold and not having anywhere to go, what would you do? That’s when the reality check hit me.”
McGregor has four other people on her team, Walking Strong & Proud. You can visit https://canada.cnoy.org/location/huntsville to donate to any team or register and participate in the walk yourself.
Related story: Coldest Night of the Year walk is the Table’s largest fundraiser
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