Coldest Night of the Year
National fundraiser Coldest Night of the Year is returning this weekend across Canada, with more than 100 local participants in Oakville gearing up for a chilly hike tomorrow night.
The North Oakville instalment of the Canada-wide event is being hosted by Front Line Outreach, a local organization that serves both Oakville and most of Halton Region. This year's event includes more than 125 walkers across 35 teams.
The walk itself is a 2-5km route that will be done as a group beginning tomorrow, Saturday, Feb. 25 at 5 p.m. gathering at Chartwell Church (228 Chartwell Road in Oakville.)
As for the temperature? The weather is expected to be a frosty -10 degrees celsius.
Just in Oakville, this year's event has already raised more than $35,000, with an eventual goal to hit $60,000 within the coming weeks. The money will go to funding local shelters, warming centres and providing homeless residents with survival kits.
Unlike the last two years, the group public walk is once again being hosted in Oakville as a town event. (Walks in 2021 and 2022 were done in family units only for COVID-19 safety.)
"This event touches the heart of our participants," says organizer Ron Shantz. "It's great being together again this year. There's a synergy when you have a group together supporting a common cause. It increases awareness for the hidden homeless living in our town."
If you'd like to donate or even participate in the walk this weekend, it isn't too late. Donations and registrations are being accepted on the event website for Front Line Outreach walking in the Coldest Night of the Year 2023. Donations can be accepted until March 28, 2023.
"Taking care of the homeless is something we do normally. But we run this event every year to make sure that the homeless in Oakville don't go hungry or cold and get to have a survival kit."
Shantz explains, "There’s never been a more crucial time to help support the homeless and the most vulnerable."
"Some people think there’s no poverty or poor in Oakville, but you don't often see it because of organizations like us. We can help look after people on the fringe and prevent others from being in those circumstances." He continues by saying their mission is to "look after the problem that's in front of us, but also try to prevent something from happening down the road."
CNY Foundation
He knows that his outreach work with kids is connected to the big problem of poverty and homelessness in town. "This is also where we teach kids about having a life that will prevent them from going down the road to homelessness later on," he said.
Even though the fundraising has been online, the walking is obviously not. Teams will be walking in the cold today after collecting pledges that will support both Camp Dakota and their year-round programs to combat poverty in Oakville.
Oakville has a continually expanding homeless population, including the highest rate of homelessness in all of Halton: at a rate of 65.5 persons per 100,000 residents.
"That means at any given time, there are more than 100 people homeless in Oakville," says Shantz. "The lack of proper support systems and care and accessibility to emergency shelters is unacceptable."
To learn more about the year-round programs run by Front Line Outreach, you can visit their website.
