CARNDUFF — The Coldest Night of the Year Walk for Choose Life Ministry, which was held on Feb. 24, saw significant growth in participation and fundraising.
For the first time, the walk was held in Carnduff, but virtual walks also took place in Estevan and Fort Qu'Appelle. A total of 46 people partook in the event.
"It was beautiful weather, and everybody enjoyed the temperature. We had three different walks going on," said Choose Life executive director Kimberley Atkinson.
"There's only supposed to be one walk in one town with 2K and 5K options. But if you were not able to make it to that walk, you're allowed to walk virtually or where you are. So, our Fort Qu'Appelle store did a walk. And the Estevan store did a walk. Eleven people walked the five kilometres in Carnduff; 17 walked the two kilometres in Carnduff; 12 walked the two kilometres in Estevan and six walked the two kilometres in Fort Qu'Appelle."
A light meal was served afterwards in Carnduff.
This is the largest fundraiser of the year for the ministry, which operates the Homestead for Hope, a residential rehabilitation program in southeast Saskatchewan for women ages 18 and up with life-controlling issues.
Atkinson noted that the fundraiser organizers set a goal of $20,000. While the totals weren't in at press time, the initial numbers were double last year's total.
"When you join into the Coldest Night, that's what [$20,000] they put as your minimum for anybody, and you basically try and do as good as you can," Atkinson explained.
"Saturday, we looked and we were over the $12,000 mark. And now we just need to bring in the support sheets from the different stores, and people were allowed to show up to the walk with pledge sheets and cash, all that has to be inputted now. So, we'll see where it comes out in the wash within the next couple of weeks."
Between $6,000 and $7,000 was raised in 2023 with 24 participants in total.
Atkinson noted that this year, for the first time, they also had a challenge team.
"A challenge team signs in and then challenges other teams, so the southern Alberta realtors had created a challenge and realtors could compete against each other and pick their charities," Atkinson explained. "Ray Boutin, [real estate agent in Carlyle] challenged other realtors but chose our charity. He had a team of several walkers, and they did very, very well … That was quite fun."
All funds raised go to Choose Life's Homestead for Hope program.
The decision to move the main walk from Estevan to Carnduff was based on the participants' location, and Atkinson said it worked out well.
"We had a lot of people last year come from Manitoba. And actually, we didn't have a team from Estevan. So, we all went from Carnduff and Manitoba all the way to Estevan. So that was the reasoning to just have it in Carnduff this year, to make it a little more central to where the majority of the walkers could come, which I think ended up being good, although Estevan did end up having a team this year, which was fine. They could walk there because we had about double the walkers this year. So, that was still a good decision," Atkinson said.
"And we had really great support from the RMs and from the town of Carnduff specifically, so with the RMs and the town being excited to support it and come out, it was just really well received," she added.
Atkinson noted that people enjoyed the event, and it also attracted attention and support from the community.
