COLDEST NIGHT WALK
About 250 people take part in Coldest Night of the Year walk, raising $30,000 for Harvest House
About 250 people walked Saturday night, raising $30,000 in support of Harvest House
Jennifer Deboer had her baby, Ellia, strapped to her chest, ready to embark on a walk along the streets of Charlottetown.
However this wasn’t a typical evening stroll.
Deboer was among 250 people who traversed the streets of Charlottetown to raise money for Harvest House P.E.I., an organization that helps the hurting, hungry and homeless in the province.
And although the temperature was mild, the symbolism behind the Coldest Night of the Year walk was not lost of them.
Deboer only has to think back to the series of storms that hit P.E.I. in recent weeks.
“It makes me so thankful for everything that we have,” said Deboer.
Deboer, Ellia, her son, Jos, and husband, Rinse, were on team Suzy’s Sassy Strollers.
The walk on Saturday ended up fundraising more than $30,000.
“It just makes me thankful that I have an opportunity to be able to help,” said Deboer.
Each Coldest Night of the Year location is operated by a local, community-based registered charity.
This walk, in fact, saved Harvest House P.E.I.
“When we started this program five years ago, we were just about ready to close our doors,” said John Bennett, director of Harvest House P.E.I.
“We were really not sure how we were going to move forward. There was just not enough money to go forward.”
Since taking part in this national walk, Harvest House P.E.I. has raised more than $150,000.
This added support allowed the house to hire a part-time administrator and director.
“While we do have a volunteer base, we don’t always hear from the general public saying, ‘Yeah you are doing a good job’ or ‘We need you’ or, ‘This is meeting a great need in the community’, but that is clearly what is being said today,” said Bennett.
Fifteen-year-old Bayley Huizing was one of those volunteers sporting a reflective vest guiding people on their two-, five- or 10-kilometre route.
Bayley has been participating in the Coldest Night of the Year Walk since its beginning in P.E.I. five years ago, raising money through her paper route.
“I guess it has always been in my heart to help the less fortunate,” she said.
She has also been on several mission trips to Halifax with her father, who is the youth pastor, at Charlottetown Christian Reformed Church.
Bennett said this walk is meant to be a reminder that there are some people in the community who are outside and feeling cold and hungry during the harsh winter months.
“It’s a sobering thought.”