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Coldest Night of the Year returns for 4th year

February 11, 2021   ·   0 Comments

By Sam Odrowski

The devastating impacts of COVID-19 restrictions on jobs and the economy is being felt across the country and Orangeville is no exception.

The Orangeville Food Bank distributed close to 360,000 lbs of food in 2020 and saw a notable increase in the numbers of people accessing food. To support the local food bank’s operations, it’s again calling on the community to participate in its yearly fundraiser.

The 4th Annual Coldest Night of the Year (CNOY) is back and runs until Feb. 20, however this year the event is being done entirely online with the goal of raising $40,000.

Participants are invited to form teams and walk 2km or 5km to generate donations for the food bank. Online registration is available at https://cnoy.org/location/orangeville.

“Coldest Night of the Year supports people who are homeless, hungry and hurting in our community, and we’re lucky enough that in Orangeville, that means we’re supporting the Orangeville Food Bank,” said Heather Hayes, the food bank’s executive director.

In the past, CNOY has seen close to 300 participants and as of Monday, 157 walkers and 37 teams were registered online, generating well over $20,000 to date.

“We’d really love to see at least 200 walkers participate in the event this year,” noted Hayes.

The Orangeville Food Bank recently purchased a new building at 3 Commerce Road so they can better serve residents and part of the money fundraised through CNOY will assist in offsetting the building’s costs, in addition to feeding those in need.

“The funds that we raise here will support the Orangeville Food Bank in doing the work that we do. We use some of the funds for purchasing fresh, nutritious food for people. We do need some of the funds to support the bricks and mortar…Without the bricks and mortar, we wouldn’t be able to store and distribute the food that we have,” explained Hayes.

“We also use some of the money to make sure that the programs that we run whether it’s making sure that seniors have extra food or that kids do, and we put together packages for the homeless populations that we have here in town.”

CNOY is a national event has been running for 10 years. For 2021, there are 149 communities participating across Canada.

In addition to raising funds, Hayes notes that the event is helping to spread education about social issues.

“I’m not sure that people always understand who accesses the food bank, so this helps us raise awareness in the community about who’s using the food bank, what kinds of things we actually do at the food bank,” she said.

“I think sometimes people have an idea of who accesses the food bank and it might not always be the reality. Right now, we are seeing an increase in families who have been employed in the past, but because of COVID, don’t have income coming in right now and they’re accessing this thing for the first time ever.”

Another important piece for the public to understand is that the Orangeville Food Bank’s here for anyone who needs a hand.

“The doors are always open and we can be that soft place to land to sort of give you a bit of respite and get some food into you and maybe connect you up with other services that exists in our community that you don’t know about. So, it is an awareness building event as well as a fundraiser for the food bank,” Hayes explained.

CNOY’s lead sponsor is again Wendy Edwards Realty, who’s been the lead sponsor for the past three years. She provides $5,000 annually.

“She’s a big supporter for us throughout the year, but really comes to the table for us and for Coldest Night of the Year.”

Hayes encourages anyone who is able to get involved in the fundraiser to do so and support a great cause.

“I think we’re all suffering, not only are we in February, we’re getting close to moving into the second year of this pandemic and I think we’re all getting a little tired,” she noted.

“I think this is an event that gives us a chance to get outside and get a little vitamin D, a little sunlight on our skin, that probably needs a little warming up, as well as a chance to talk about some of the bigger issues that we have in our community,” Hayes added.

“This would just be an excellent way to get a little exercise, bring a little awareness to the food bank.”

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