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Coldest Night of the Year event heats up

"I know in the past when it’s been a bitterly cold night people have said ‘boy this is a very cold night,’ and we always say if you are homeless, this is 24-7.”
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Coldest Night of the year sponsor Michel LeBoeuf (left) along with Gathering Place Executive Director Dennis Chippa (right) pose for a photo after Wednesday's launch of the fourth annual Coldest Night of the Year event which will take place on February 25th. Photo by Chris Dawson.

Dennis Chippa says the demand for the Gathering Place Soup kitchen is on the rise.  

“We saw a spike of probably 10 people we had never seen before in the first week of January and they have been consistently coming in,” said Chippa, who is the Gathering Place's Executive Director. 

“A lot of them are youth. We are seeing a few more seniors as well and then in our evening meals on Monday, and Friday and Saturday we are seeing a few more families coming in.”  

It’s those people that the Coldest Night of the Year fundraiser will impact.   

The event, which will take place on the night of February 25th, was launched at the Grande Event Centre on Wednesday afternoon as organizers hope to see hundreds of people participate in either the 2, 5 or 10 kilometre walk through downtown North Bay to help raise awareness about the issue of hunger and homelessness in the city.  

“The 25th of February is always a relatively cold night so here’s what it’s like to be a homeless person. Here’s what it’s like, two hours of this and I know in the past when it’s been a bitterly cold night people have said ‘boy this is a very cold night,’ and we always say if you are homeless, this is 24-7,” said Chippa

“So it’s really important for us to tell people that this is what the folks that we serve deal with every day and every night.” 

The family friendly walk will include two rest stops, one at Memorial Gardens and the other at the current location of the Gathering Place where warm drinks and snacks will be served to the participants.  A chili dinner will follow at the Grande Event Centre courtesy of Cecil’s.  

Anyone interested in putting in a team can go to the website https://canada.cnoy.org/location/northbay or call Evan Newman by phone at (705) 474-7687 ext. 12 or email Evan at [email protected]


Chris Dawson

About the Author: Chris Dawson

Chris Dawson has been with BayToday.ca since 2004. He has provided up-to-the-minute sports coverage and has become a key member of the BayToday news team.
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