Wilmot walkers exceed $40,000 fundraising goal at ninth annual Coldest Night of the Year walk
- 18 hours ago
- 3 min read
By Galen Simmons
More than 100 walkers braved the late-winter chill in New Hamburg Feb. 28 for the ninth annual Coldest Night of the Year fundraiser in support of the Wilmot and Wellesley Resource Centre (WWRC), raising $44,000 and counting to help local residents experiencing hunger, homelessness and poverty.
By the time participants stepped out onto the walk routes that evening, the fundraiser had already surpassed its $40,000 goal. As of press time March 4, the event had raised $44,751 – 111 per cent of its fundraising target – with donations continuing to be accepted until March 31.
“This is our ninth year of partnering with Coldest Night of the Year,” WWRC executive director Trisha Robinson told those gathered before the walk. “At our first Coldest Night, we had nine teams, 63 walkers and we raised $9,000. And today, nine years later, we have 117 walkers, 24 teams and we are over our goal.”
Those who participated in the fundraiser walk were supported by 29 volunteers who helped organize and run the evening’s activities.
The walk began at the New Hamburg Community Centre, where participants gathered beforehand to socialize, play games, take photos and enjoy live music from local band Folklore Junction before heading out into the cold. Walkers then set out on either a shorter or longer route through the community before finishing the evening with a hot meal and fellowship at the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 532 next door.
Robinson said the funds raised through the annual event help the resource centre respond to growing and increasingly complex needs in rural communities like Wilmot and Wellesley.
“I just want to talk about how hard our work has gotten over the last little while, how complex, how much it’s affecting our staff,” Robinson said. “I have staff that call me at night in tears, afraid that the people they’re serving are not going to make it through the night because they’re going to freeze in their unheated cars or their vans.”
She said staff and volunteers are doing everything they can to support those struggling in the community, often providing essentials such as sleeping bags, tents and other emergency supports for people with nowhere else to go.
“It’s very dire,” Robinson said. “We’re used to fixing things. We’re used to helping people. We’re used to being able to house people. That’s not the way it is anymore.”
Robinson also reminded participants that poverty and housing insecurity are not always visible in rural communities.
“The hungry, the homeless, the hurting – poverty and low-resourced people can have many appearances,” she said. “Poverty looks the same to a child, a family, an individual or a senior in a rural community as it does in a large city.”
She added anyone can find themselves facing hardship.
“In other words, poverty looks like you and me,” Robinson said. “Any of us who find our circumstances beyond our control can have our lives changed in the blink of an eye.”
The Coldest Night of the Year walk takes place in communities across Canada each winter, raising funds for local organizations that support people experiencing homelessness, hunger and hardship.
In Wilmot and Wellesley, the money raised through the event supports the programs and services offered by the WWRC, including food assistance, housing supports, counselling and other resources for residents facing difficult circumstances.
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