By Spencer Sterritt

Nanaimo and Parksville prepare for the Coldest Night of the Year

Feb 15, 2017 | 10:57 AM

NANAIMO — Though most Nanaimo and Parksville residents haven’t spent a night on the streets, organizers of the Coldest Night of the Year walk say many are close, which is why they run the walk.

Coldest Night of the Year takes place Saturday, Feb. 25 for the sixth year. Walkers raise funds for the Island Crisis Care Society and then walk either 2, 5 or 10 km.

Event coordinator Michelle Authier, who works at the Society, told NanaimoNewsNOW it’s an opportunity for residents to realize just what it’s like to be homeless.

“We really do encourage walkers to think about what it would be like to be homeless.” she said. “A lot of us live in our own bubble and our comfortable lives.”

She said even those with a roof over their head often still ride a thin financial line and may be only one paycheck away from finding themselves in dire straits.

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“When we get together for the meal (after the walk), we share how it impacted them and how they haven’t thought of it before. It’s an opportunity to come together to get out of our own little boxes and experience what that would be like.”

So far, $13,000 has been raised. The money will go to the Island Crisis Care Society and stay within the community it was raised in.

Authier said the money will help with their Parksville extreme weather shelter, which she said was over-capacity most nights, and the crisis stabilization centre Hirst House.

In Nanaimo, programs such as the Women’s Homeless Shelter and their crisis homes will receive the money.

The Society hopes to raise $40,000 in Nanaimo and Parksville/Oceanside. As of Tuesday, Authier said they’re roughly $3,000 ahead of last years fundraising and sit at just over $13,000.

In the next 10 days she said they expect a mad dash of money and will likely be close to their goal. On average, she said they raise between $35 and $38,000.

Their online profiles for the walk can be found here for Nanaimo and here for Parksville.

NanaimoNewsNOW is taking part in the walk and both the Wolf and the Wave radio stations are sponsored. The fundraising page can be found here.

-with files from Ian Holmes

spencer.sterritt@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @spencer_sterrit