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Coldest Night of the Year walk brings awareness to homelessness 

February 3, 2022   ·   0 Comments

There is a very real point to be made during the annual Coldest Night of the Year walk hosted by SHIFT – Alliston’s overnight emergency shelter.

While walkers can bundle up and spend an hour outdoors, in the cold, at night, it is a reminder that on the very same night there are some people who will be on the street trying to survive the cold.

The shelter is hoping to raise $150,000 which will go toward shelter operating cost. As of January 27, they had already reached half that goal.

The walk itself will take place on February 26. 

“It’s going to be a live, COVID-friendly five or two kilometre walk on the evening of February 26,” explained SHIFT Fundraising Chair Alicia Kalozdi-MacMillian. “You can bring a team or join a team. There’s lots of different ways you can be involved. It’s focused on those that are hurt, and hungry, and homeless, and it’s raising awareness. It is a small taste of what some people go through on a daily basis. It is meant to give everyone a real sense of what someone who lives a life like that might be experiencing. It’s a good reminder of how lucky some of us are.”

The walk will get started at the New Tecumseth Recreation Centre. Last year around 200 people took part in the walk and already there are 150 signed up for this year.

“We’re off to a good start,” Alicia said. “The community has been incredibly generous, our corporate sponsors have stepped up. When people learn about it, they want to get involved in some way. We’re lucky to live in a community that is so generous.”

The shelter is currently in a transition phase as the building they use on Paris Street, the Anchor Point Church, is not going to be available for much longer. The shelter has used the building for the past five years.

As a result, they are looking for a new building and want to stay in Alliston. 

“For a long time, we have known we are out-growing this space,” Alicia explained. “We have to flip things around for every program we run, it’s just one room. We have to set up for dinner, then set up again for evening programs. It’s mattresses on the floor with dividers. It’s not as warm and welcoming as we would like it to be. We don’t have a big kitchen and not very much office space. It’s kind of a big push for us to start looking for a new place.

“We have started a capital campaign and are focused on raising $500,000. We would love to stay in Alliston and we like the location we are in. We have a whole planning and development committee focused on looking at opportunities. We’d like to have a place where we have a men’s room and a women’s areas for overnight accommodations, and a main area that can be a living space and hopefully a commercial kitchen. We are very flexible when it comes to making things work.”

The Coldest Night of the Year walk will help the shelter prepare for the next year as they continue their valuable work in the community.

By Brian Lockhart
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

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