On February 23, families and friends bundled up for the Coldest Night of the Year (CNOY) fundraiser in over 133 locations across our country. With temperatures dipping into the -20 C in some cities, walkers had the chance to support and experience a small taste of what thousands of Canadians go through every day by walking 2, 5 or 10km outside.
For the first time, The Mustard Seed had four walks take place, since our expansion into Kamloops, B.C. this past September. Between our four location – Calgary, Edmonton, Red Deer, and Kamloops – we had a total of 529 walkers and successfully raised over $137,000!
This money will go directly to our programs and services at The Mustard Seed so we can meet our guests’ and clients’ basic needs, and also begin to heal and grow mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.
CNOY in Kamloops:
“We’d like to thank the 150+ people for coming out to participate in this wonderful event with us,” said Diane Down, Managing Director of The Mustard Seed in Kamloops. “The support of our community for our organization and the people we serve has always been heartwarming, and this showing of support from 123 walkers comprising 30 teams to raise over $26,000 is beyond appreciated and impactful. We are also so appreciative of the business community and church community for stepping up to support us, most notably our sponsors Bible Truth Church, IBEW Local 933, Starbucks, and Terry Rogers Consulting. We saw incredible diversity of people who attended, children with their parents, seniors with their grandkids, and people from all over our community coming together to walk for a great cause!”
CNOY in Edmonton:
The Edmonton South team was excited to announce they surpassed their goal! With hopes of raising $35,000 this year, they blew past it raising $43,594 with a total of 177 walkers and 30 teams.
“We are incredibly grateful to walkers and volunteers who braved the cold to raise funds on Saturday. It was another successful event – our 3rd in a row,” said Dean Kurpjuweit, the Managing Director for The Mustard Seed in Edmonton.
CNOY in Red Deer:
This was the third year Red Deer has participated in CNOY. Even though they had the 2019 Canada Winter Games to compete with, it was no worry. With a goal of $20,000, they successfully raised $19,391 with a total of 94 walkers and 23 teams.
The money raised will support the many programs at The Mustard Seed in Red Deer, including our celebrated School Lunch program that feeds over 300 children every day.
CNOY in Calgary:
We are excited to announce the Calgary East Mustard Seed team raised a total of $28,848. Our generous friend and donor, Gary Nissen, matched the first $20,000, giving us a grand total of $48,848 with 135 walkers and 22 teams. ATB also donated an additional $2,000 directly to The Mustard Seed in support of our walk.
Enthusiastic supporter and participant, Kaleigh Goehringer and her family, were excited to be participating in the fundraiser for their fourth year in a row.
“We tried our first walk on a whim, and once we experienced the community and learned more about The Mustard Seed, we were hooked,” said Kaleigh. “Our little toddler was so proud to be walking and helping people at the same time, and we were excited to be able to open up the conversation with him about helping others.”
From us at The Mustard Seed – thank you to everyone who supported this event. We are blessed as an organization to be able to help those in need every single day but are only able because of people like you.
