THUNDER BAY — The 11th annual Coldest Night of the Year Walk in support of Grace Place began at The Summit church on Saturday afternoon.
The walk is Grace Place’s biggest fundraiser of the year, raising over $110,000 as of Saturday. Donations continue until March 31.
“Our goal of $100,000 was surpassed. We're at $110,000 and we have 418 walkers. We were only expecting about 300 people. It's amazing to see the heart of the people of Thunder Bay and their heart for the homeless and hurting and by raising this much money, it's really exciting to see,” said Gary Macsemchuk, executive director of Grace Place.
The walk began at The Summit Church, and the rest stop was at Grace Place, halfway through the course.
“We have pizza supplied by Eat Local Pizza and we have coffee from Bay Village Coffee and people can take a look and see what we do at Grace Place.”
Macsemchuk said the funds raised keeps the heat, lights and water flowing at Grace Place.
“We are funded about 55 per cent by the District Social Services Administration Board and that is for programs that we operate. But, (it’s) the everyday expenses that we need help with,” he said.
The Coldest Night of the Year had a goal of $100,000. Before walkers began on Saturday, the total raised was at $110,670.
“We would have never thought that we were going to surpass our goal on walk day,” Macsemchuk said.
Over the 17 years Grace Place has been open, the need for its services has increased dramatically, he said.
“We have seen more people coming for our community meals every night and we're at capacity in our shelter; the need has definitely increased.”
Grace place offers a community meal three day a week, serving about 1,000 community meals each week. They also offer an Out of the Cold program that is a 25-bed shelter that runs seven days a week between October and April.
For more information visit the website.
