The Coldest Night of the Year (https://cnoy.org) is an annual Canada-wide event to raise awareness of the hungry and homeless in our local communities. Many people do not have adequate shelter to keep themselves warm.
Central Saanich United Church is organizing a family walk on Saturday Feb 28. We are gathering at their location (7180 East Saanich Rd Saanichton) at 3:45 pm for a start time of 4:00 pm. We will walk around Saanichton for about 5 km although there are a lot of turn-around points for people who do not want to do the whole walk. Back at the church, there will be some warm drinks and desserts served. Adults and kids can complete the waiver form or complete one at the Connection Table. Dogs are welcome!
There are a number of ways to participate in the Coldest Night of the Year which will be held on Saturday, February 28. The many resourceful charities around the Saanich Peninsula and Victoria can benefit from prayer and donations of time, food, clothing or cash and there is an opportunity to join a local community walk again this year.
Examples of local organizations that help hungry, homeless and hurting include, but are not limited to:
Union Gospel Mission (Victoria) runs the Arrow Home Women’s Recovery 6 bed residence and the UGM Greater Victoria Mobile Mission Van. Their website at https://ugm.ca/building-hope-greater-victoria gives specific Victoria-based information. To stay local around Victoria, see the bottom right button on the Victoria webpage for donations and check out the volunteer opportunities on the page as well.
There are a number of fundraising pages for Our Place Society which provides housing, addiction recovery services and second stage housing to the graduates of their recovery programs. If you want to make a donation directly to Our Place or under Stelly’s Stingers or Central Saanich United Church, for example, find your team on the CNOY Victoria Webpage at https://cnoy.org/location/victoriapandora.
Extreme Outreach which provides support for youth and their families in Victoria. Their goal is to break the cycle of addiction, homelessness and poverty. More information is available on their website https://extremeoutreach.com
The many local food banks in the area such as the Saanich Peninsula Lions Foodbank in Sidney (https://splfoodbank.com ) or Living Edge (https://livingedge.ngo ). Living Edge provides food to 7 weekly neighbour markets in the greater Victoria area, including here on the Peninsula.
Friends of St Andrew’s in Sidney who were highlighted in our local paper recently as they prepare and distribute food, provide social contact and seasonal clothing and connect with and help transition those who need supportive housing. This church is also applying for emergency shelter status for the unhoused during times of intense weather. More information can be found at https://www.standrewssidney.ca/ministries/outreach/pages/friends-of-st-andrews.
For any questions, please contact Jackie Buston at 250-893-4810 or jrbuston@gmail.com or Peter Ball at 250-686-8063 or peninisulapete@gmail.com.