Comox Valley prepares for COVID-safe virtual Coldest Night of the Year event: Walking Apart, Working Together
Here we are, 2021. It’s not quite going the way we had hoped but that won’t stop us from carrying on and doing the important work to raise money to support people who are hungry, homeless and hurting in our community.
The 6th Annual Coldest Night of the Year winter walk-a-thon returns to the Comox Valley. From February 12-21, the entire community is invited to join us for a virtual fundraiser as we walk apart while working together to help end homelessness in the Comox Valley. For the past five years, CVTS and Dawn to Dawn Action On Homelessness Society have partnered to host this family-friendly, in-person event. Together, you have helped raise almost $400,000 to support our organizations, making sure we are able to continue to provide free services to some of the most vulnerable people in the Comox Valley. This year, the need is even greater and we need your help more than ever.
For the past five years, you’ve shown up and showed us that you care. You’ve come out in the hundreds, regardless of the weather, donned a touque and walked in the darkness, in the rain and the cold, with friends, family and colleagues, getting just a little taste of what it must be like to live unhoused in our climate. Most of us are fortunate to have a home, a place to go at the end of a work or school day, or a place to isolate when pandemic strikes; but that is the reality for so many people in our community. In fact, over the past two years, homelessness has increased by 13% in the Comox Valley: there are more people, and particularly more women, more seniors and more youth, who no longer have a place to call “home”.
Our goal is to raise $121,000 in 2021. For safety reasons, we’ve made a few modifications to the event plan: you can walk where you want, when you want and with the people in your bubble. You can walk on a treadmill, walk your dog, or walk around your community. You can snowshoe at Mount Washington or enjoy a walk at Airforce Beach. Your walk can take place anytime between February 12-21, but the national walk day is Saturday, February 20.
Registration is by donation, and no donation is too small. All donations over $20 will receive a tax receipt. To register or donate, visit www.cnoy.org/location/comoxvalley.
Let’s have some fun with this! We live in one of the most beautiful and unique places in Canada that is home to some of the most resourceful, creative and caring people around. Let’s show the rest of the country just how special the Comox Valley really is. Get dressed up and get outside! Let’s stay safe, walk apart and work together.