Nelson Cares hosts Second Annual Coldest Night of Year Winter Wander
By Contributor
On Saturday February 20th, Nelson CARES Society is looking forward to another successful event. We are eager to see hundreds of community members participate in our second annual Coldest Night of the Year, Winter Wander.
A walk for the homeless, hungry, and hurting, Coldest Night is an opportunity for the community to come together to raise awareness around homelessness.
This 2/5/10 km non-competitive walk will have some rest stops along the way and a warm bowl of chili at the end. At the heart of the event, is recognizing the importance of sustainable, affordable living and working toward real change in Nelson to end homelessness.
Proceeds from the event will go towards NCARES’ Room to Live campaign, a renewal project for Ward Street Place.
“This is our second year organizing this walk,” Event Coordinator, Beth Seed said.
“We aim to raise $30,000 to put towards the Room to Live campaign. We live in a very active, generous community and anticipate seeing a great deal of people getting behind this event to help us reach our goal. It will be a cold wintry walk, and a good opportunity to think of others who don’t have a safe reliable roof over their head each night.”
Last year’s first annual Coldest Night was extremely successful on so many levels.
“We saw over 350 members of the community take to the streets in support of the Room to Live campaign and together, we surpassed our goal. That’s pretty special in a small community like Nelson and we couldn’t be more proud,” said Seed.
The overall goal of the Room to Live Campaign is to raise another $250,000 to complete the project. Ward Street Place (567 Ward Street) is a 102-year-old building and is one of the only low-income housing blocks in the region. It is home to people living in poverty and those who have escaped homelessness.
NCARES receives no public funding to operate the building and it serves the region’s most vulnerable citizens.
“We feel honoured to have had such an incredible amount of support last year and we encourage local groups and individuals to join us again this year,” said Seed.
“A stable roof over our head is often something we take for granted. Many of us are struggling to make ends meet and we can be only one illness or injury away from being able to keep our roof over our head.”
The funds raised from last years walk secured the restoration of two rooms at WSP.
Get your family, friends and co-workers together, build a team or walk on your own. There is a $25 registration fee, but if you raise $150 or more, that fee is waived. All registered walkers will receive a free toque! (as pictured below) Visit our website: www.coldestnightoftheyear.org/nelson to register, or contact Beth Seed, Event Coordinator for more information at beth@nelsoncares.ca or (250) 551-5092. If you would like to get involved as a volunteer or sponsor, please get in touch.
