Do not let the name fool you: the air will be cold and the night will be dark, but the Coldest Night of the Year brings out warm hearts and bright spirits every year. And this year will be no exception.
On February 26, The Table Soup Kitchen Foundation is hosting the Coldest Night of the Year fundraiser, a 2 km or 5 km walk through Huntsville to raise money for their various programs that help the hurting, hungry, and homeless in the community. The fundraiser is an annual event and 167 locations across Canada are participating this year to raise funds for their communities.
There are currently 26 teams and more than 100 walkers in the Huntsville community taking part, with the number growing as the walk date approaches. Participants have been climbing steadily towards The Table’s $60,000 fundraising goal with more than $40,000 raised so far.
Heather Cassie, CEO of The Table, is extremely pleased with the number of donors and participants this year, as well as their community spirit and dedication to the cause.
“People are so generous,” she says. “It’s incredible, I’m blown away already.”
Cassie emphasizes how easy the process of participating is: on the CNOY website you can sign up to join the walk, donate, or send out emails to potential sponsors.
“You just send the emails out and people start donating because they love what we’re doing at The Table and they want to support people that they know who are raising awareness,” Cassie says.
Due to COVID-19 regulations, there was no official in-person walk last year, but a small group of people still chose to fundraise on their own and walked the typical route done each year. There was also a virtual event, where participants fundraised, did their own walks, and then sent in pictures of themselves with their team which were posted on the CNOY website.
The Table has agreed with CNOY to put some of the money raised into their general fund to support their various programs including: the soup kitchen, food bank, exchange store, and men’s hostel, as their primary purpose is to provide food and other basic necessities to people in need.
The remainder of funds raised will go toward The Table building’s repairs and upgrades, which will include the replacement of the floors and roof, painting, as well as a variety of other small repairs. Cassie says these will not happen all at once, but they will work away at them as they can.
“We just want to show respect and honour to the people who are coming in and give them a nice place. We want it to be as welcoming as possible,” Cassie says. “And we can only do that if we have community support.”
Cassie extends her immense gratitude to event director Paula Paunic “for her assistance in making this year’s walk better than ever.” she says. “I don’t know if I could have done this without her. She’s incredible.”
Cassie and The Table are grateful for their sponsors this year: lead sponsor MBRP Ltd. and supporting sponsors Tulloch and Randy Blain Construction Inc.
For more information on this year’s walk, or to sign up or donate, visit cnoy.org.
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