The Coldest Night of the Year (https://cnoy.org) is an annual Canadian-wide event to raise awareness of the hungry and homeless in our local communities. The cold weather that we have just experienced is a reminder that there are those who do not have adequate shelter to keep themselves warm. There are a number of ways to participate in this day which will be held on Saturday, February 22. The many resourceful charities around the Saanich Peninsula and Victoria can benefit from donations of time, food, clothing or cash and there is an opportunity to join a local community walk again this year.
Stelly’s Secondary School is organizing a family walk on Saturday Feb 22 at 4 pm at the School 1627 Stelly's Cross Road. We will walk to Brentwood Bay bandshell at the park and then walk back to the school with snacks to follow. The route is approximately 2 km and is on sidewalks. As a school event, kids need parent permission to join. Adults and kids can complete the waiver form online or when they arrive at the event. Stelly’s has also started a fundraising page for Our Place Society in Victoria which provides housing, addiction recovery services and second stage housing to the graduates of their recovery programs. If you want to make a donation under Stelly’s Team, their fundraising page is https://secure.e2rm.com/registrant/TeamFundraisingPage.aspx?teamID=1024398&langPref=en-CA
Examples of other local organizations that help hungry, homeless and hurting include, but are not limited to:
Union Gospel Mission (Victoria) which is soon opening the Arrow Home Women’s Recovery 6 bed residence and runs 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.
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.
For any questions, please contact Jackie Buston by phone at 250-652-6799 (home) or 250-893-4810 (text) or by email at jrbuston@gmail.com.