It was quite ironic that it was nearly 20 degrees outside for a Coldest Night of the Year celebration.
But Cassellholme truly heated up the donations box this February for the annual event for the North Bay Gathering Place that went virtual.
Dennis Chippa, Executive Director at the Gathering Place, presented the first-place plaque to Tracy Davis and her team at Cassellholme.
Their team came together to raise $10,000 which worked out to - according to organizers - about 10 per cent of the overall goal.
"For the limitations that they are under to be able to raise as much money as they did, I think their secret was the spirit of their staff and everybody pitched in and it was an amazing thing to see that," said Chippa during the plaque presentation outside the long term care home Thursday afternoon.
See related: Gathering Place inspired by support for Coldest Night of the Year
Davis, who is the Spiritual and Wellness Coordinator at the facility, admits they are a very competitive group, and they were up for the fundraising challenge taking part in the walk and creating other activities such as a pie-throwing contest and internal draws to help bring the fundraising dollars up.
Obviously, it was a success, but it was not easy.
"It has been tough, we have been working through a pandemic," noted Davis about the stress in their building during COVID-19.
"We have done a really good job keeping the staff here excited about things and investing in our staff. We have been working really, really hard at that so they rallied,"
Jamie Lowery, CEO at Cassellholme, is not surprised at the efforts of his staff.
"For us and the staff it is really about the giving back," said Lowery.
"We work really hard but people do not work here necessarily for the money, they work here because they care about other people. It is not just about a job."
Chippa says overall the Gathering Place fundraiser raised more than $50,000 which was a surprise considering the environment COVID-19 created to run something like this in early 2021.
"I think people wanted to do something, they wanted to do an activity," said Chippa.
"I think the really neat thing, because we couldn't get a group together which we thought was going to be a nightmare since we could not have 200 people gather together. I think a lot of people were saying, 'you know what, I can walk in my neighbourhood,' so they found it easier to walk in their area or community and I think that is why so many groups got involved."
