CORNWALL, Ontario – The Agape Centre may soon need to think of a new name for their annual Coldest Night of the Year fundraiser. With temperatures rising to 6 C with rain, some suggested that ‘Rainiest Night of the Year’ may be a more suitable fit.
Among one of 113 Canadian communities taking part in the event, the walk is organized in support of Agapé Centre Cornwall. The purpose of the event is to give participants an idea of what homelessness is like in Canadian winter. Ironically, due to this year’s unseasonably warm weather, participants only had to worry about the rain.
Walkers left the Knights of Columbus starting point at 5:15 p.m. passing through Lamoureux Park and doubling back to Amelia. Participants had the option of either a 2 km or 5 km walk, with a chili dinner to be enjoyed by all afterwards.
“The main idea is to show the community that there are people who have to endure the cold or harsh weather,” said Agapé Centre Executive Director, Diane Plourde. “Our goal is to raise funds so we can keep doing our part.”
Funds raised during the event will directly benefit the Agapé Centre’s food bank and soup kitchen.
“Our main mission is to help feed people through our soup kitchen and food bank,” said Plourde. “We service up to 25 families per day in our food bank, and on average, about 110 people per day in our soup kitchen.”
While many people can imagine themselves needing hospital services in their lifetime, food banks don’t tend to get the same attention.
“Not everyone thinks that they could potentially be in a situation where they need food,” said Jim Healey, Agapé Centre Board Chair/Event Director. “We really are walking for the hungry and the hurting people.”
“We anticipate that we will gain about $10,000 or more from the event,” said Healey. “I’m quite happy with the number of registrations, and the monies that we’ve generated. We’ll be satisfied with whatever we can take in.”
Due to some changes in staff, Healey says that the organization may fall slightly short from funds raised in previous years, but any contribution is helpful.
“We try to do the best we can, and it’s dependent on the monies we’ve raised,” said Healey. “That’s really what this is designed to do, is fund some of those extras.”
