'Coldest Night of the Year' walk takes steps to help Sudbury, northern Ontario homeless

A national fundraiser to help Canada's poor and homeless is coming to northeastern Ontario — and the hope is that you'll bundle up for a walk, too. 

On Feb. 20, the "Coldest Night of the Year" will see people in 80 cities across the country zip-up and head out simultaneously to raise awareness of  — and money for — local poverty relief groups. 

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Kevin Serviss, Executive Director of the Samaritan Centre in Sudbury, said the pledge walk is "really, really vital to what we do." 

"In the past three years, we've had really good success from schools and churches who've sent teams of walkers," he said, noting that the effort has raised as much as $50,000 in a year. 

In Sudbury, the money goes to supporting the Blue Door Soup Kitchen, the Elgin Street Mission and the Corner Clinic — all services within the Samaritan Centre. 

In Sault Ste. Marie, St. Vincent Place will receive proceeds from the walk. It operates a men's shelter, soup kitchen, food bank and thrift store.

In North Bay, the fundraiser helps the Gathering Place, serving meals to people in need. 

Teams can sign up to collect pledges, and then walk a 2 km, 5 km or 10 km route.

Listen to the complete interview with Kevin Serviss here. 

Morning North6:40Coldest Night of the Year - national fundraiser for the poor and the homeless

"The Coldest Night of the Year" is held in communities across the country to raise funds to help the poor and homeless. In Sudbury, proceeds will go the the Samaritan Centre. We spoke about the event with Kevin Serviss, executive director of the centre.

According to the fundraiser's web site, one of the goals of the campaign is also to encourage people to "feel a hint of the challenge faced by those experiencing homelessness — particularly during the winter."