Riverside Mission set for Coldest Night of the Year Fundraiser

It's an issue with every city across Canada, a hidden problem that few see and even fewer acknowledge. An issue that organizations like Moose Jaw's Riverside Mission deal with day-to-day, offering assistance, comfort and shelter to those dealing with homelessness and poverty in the city.

The Coldest Night of the Year fundraising walk aims to bring this issue to the forefront – with Moose Jaw once again talking part in the annual event, alongside 125 locations across Canada on the evening of Feb. 24.

“It's a walk in solidarity and a walk in empathy,” said Riverside Mission public relations director Jacob Oddie. “It invites the community in Moose Jaw to walk in unity hand-in-hand together to do something about the homeless issue and the poverty in Moose Jaw.”

A major part of that is through fundraising, with individuals working as team captains – those interested can register through the Coldest Night website https://cnoy.org/ location/moosejaw – with the captains recruiting walkers, who then also act as fundraisers.

Participants will gather at 5 p.m. on Feb. 24 at First Baptist Church (1010 Main Street) for check in, after which opening ceremonies will be held. Walkers will then take one of two courses – a two-kilometre loop or a five-kilometre loop. The halfway point for both courses will be Riverside Mission, for a very good reason – those who haven't seen the local facility before can check out how things work there and everything they do.“It's night time and you're walking and getting a little cold and a little hungry and you walk into the Mission where you have a warm drink and something to eat and get to experience the appreciation of having that food to have,” Oddie ex- plained. “Obviously, we can never truly experience what someone who is homeless is going through, unless we are homeless ourselves, but it's taking that step in understanding each other and what the problem is.” Volunteers at the shelter are often clients of the facility or have been clients in the past.

“So people will get to see the people they're walking for, face-to-face,” Oddie said. “It's beneficial both ways, because you get to see the people you're raising funds for and our clients get to see that the community of Moose Jaw cares for them.”

It's expected that around 150 walkers will take part, with a fundraising goal of $30,000 – and while the money raised will definitely be put to good use, it's only a small part of the Coldest Night's overall goal.

“The awareness part is just as important as the fundraising part,” he added. “Both years we've held it, there are always people that are shocked, who didn't know that there was hunger and homelessness in their city. It's nice to see people go 'oh my goodness, there's this problem in my town, my city,' and it inspires them to maybe come back and volunteer or come back and give a donation or something like that.

“Hopefully we'll have that same kind of solidarity and empathy this year, like we've had every year.”