Walkers set off from The Mustard Seed for the annual Coldest Night of the Year walk. (rdnewsNOW/Josh Hall)

By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

community

Coldest Night of the Year brings out 150 people

Feb 23, 2020 | 10:06 AM

In the spirit of raising awareness about the struggles faced by Red Deer’s homeless, community members raised more than a targeted goal of $22,000 for The Mustard Seed’s 4th annual Coldest Night of the Year walk.

One hundred fifty people took part in Red Deer’s walk, while around 100 other Canadian communities also held events on Saturday.

“We need help to help build hope and well-being for the most vulnerable,” said Mustard Seed Development Officer Scott Tilbury, who noted the actual total raised will come closer to $30,000.

“There are individuals who are hungry, homeless, and struggling with mental health issues, and we are building relationships with individuals to help them move forward in their lives. Re-housing is very important and there are challenges as it relates to low-income housing in this city.”

Money raised will fund The Mustard Seed’s array of programming, including the meals it serves several days of the week out of its facility in Riverside Meadows, and its school lunch program. In 2019, The Mustard Seed Red Deer dished out 115,000 meals.

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Among those participating in Coldest Night of the Year were the 18U AAA Red Deer Braves baseball team. Manager Josh Ernst described the walk as a unique opportunity for team bonding and learning.

The 18U AAA Red Deer Braves baseball team, which raised $5100 for the Coldest Night of the Year. (rdnewsNOW/Josh Hall)

“We’re trying to teach the kids to be part of the community and learn to be better people, not just better baseball players,” Ernst said. “We want to teach them not to be closed-minded and just be thinking about themselves; we want them to think about helping others too.”

The baseball team, along with coach Brant Stickel, raised $5100 ahead of the event on Saturday.

According to Red Deer’s most recent Point in Time Homeless Count, which was conducted in 2018, there were 144 people counted as sleeping rough. Another count is set to take place sometime in 2020.

Meantime, The City of Red Deer and other stakeholders continue to advocate for a 24/7 emergency shelter, a project approved last spring, but put on hold by the new government.