Castlegar’s first Coldest Night of the Year walk raised over $17,000 for the city’s most vulnerable on Saturday.
Participants and volunteers started off the walk at the Castlegar United Church, where there was a brief opening ceremony.
Shemmaho Goodenough opened the evening with an acknowledgement to the land and the song “Invocation to White Buffalo Woman.”
“White Buffalo Woman is an archetype of compassion. White Buffalo Woman brought the pipe to the people, which was bringing the male and female components together to create balance. So this is a prayer,” she explained.
Zoe MacKay, Castlegar Youth Action Network program coordinator and Coldest Night of the Year Castlegar event director, then welcomed everyone to the walk and explained the goal of the event.
“Coldest Night raises funds to help local charities that serve the hungry, hurting and homeless across Canada. This year, 122 cities will be walking at the same time as you guys in this effort and will have raised an anticipated $400 million nationally,” she said.
MacKay also said that she hoped to make the Coldest Night of the Year walk an annual event in Castlegar and that she hoped it would get bigger and bigger every year.
Jacob Nickason, one of the youths from the Castlegar Youth Action Network, also welcomed participants and explained that he and the other youth involved in planning the event had watched a video and found out that one in every five homeless are youth.
“Which is quite worrying,” he said.
Deb McIntosh, city councillor and Community Harvest Food Bank coordinator, also spoke about both the poverty and vulnerability she has seen in the community, as well as the support she has seen from the community.
“I ask each and every one of you when you’re out here supporting this and throughout the year, not just on today and not just when there are special events, but to really reach out and help these programs,” she said, referring to services offered through the Castlegar and District Community Services Society.
Before sending everyone off, Tim Turnbull, route captain for the walk, also spoke on behalf of Zellstoff Celgar.
The company sponsored the event and donated first aid and high visibility safety gear for the event’s marshals and LED flashers and armbands for the participants. Turnbull encouraged people to use the flashers and armbands beyond the event to ensure their safety when walking at night.
At final count, 85 walkers and 85 volunteers came out for the event and as of Monday, over 200 donors had contributed $17,700.
Coldest Night of the Year Castlegar set a goal to raise $20,000 and there is still time to contribute.
Visit cnoy.org/location/castlegar up until March 31 to donate.
