Coldest Night of the Year 2015

Yesterday was the Coldest Night of the Year walk; this is a nation-wide walk-a-thon mentioned on the blog back on the 15th. Thank you to my friends and family who supported me. My personal goal was $150 and I raised $275!!!

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

I was also the team captain for the youth group. We had the original name of New Hope Youth Group and a goal of $500. We surpassed our goal by 158% raising $788,50! Again, thank you to all the family and friends who supported us.

The money raised is going to Open Arms. A local non-profit charity that helps those who are in crisis in my area, living in poverty, or find themselves living on the streets. I think that's what I love about the Coldest Night of the Year. There were people walking in cities and towns across Canada, but we were each supporting the charities and local organizations that work in our own areas. Now on to the actual walk.

Our youth group had a team of five registered, sadly, two had to miss because of illness. The two remaining girls and myself (pictured above) braved the cold and walked the 5Km.

First, was registration and connecting with friends and other teams.

 

I enjoyed that there were snacks; chips from Frito Lay and apples from Give Them A Wink.
The hall looked wonderful thanks to A Beautiful Bouquet. It was a nice touch.

Some of the teams were in costumes. Below are the "Soup Angels;" 

the team is made up of volunteers from our local soup kitchen.

 

The girls and I talked about possible costume and team names for next year. Our favourite was "NOT Frozen" and we would dress as characters from Frozen. The other ideas was dressing as Minions; we did not come up with a name yet.

The walk

2.5 Km Half way Rest Stop

I've never been more excited to see my friend Joel,

I was so thankful for the cup of water he gave me.

Some fun before we turned around and started the walk back.

This leader of the Christian Cadets (my church's boys' club)

Look how high the snowbanks are! 

I know I'm not tall but still

 

Post-walk photos!

When we walked in there was a group singing "Oh When The Saints Come Marching In." It was sweet. One of the girls asked if they sang that the whole time and didn't the singers get tired of the song. It was an interesting thought; I hope they switched off singing duty.

We then got in line for soup, hot chocolate, sandwiches, and cookies. I was impressed with all the food donations. Thank you to Tim Hortons and Swiss Chalet for donating food. 

After the meal there was a short information session about going on with Open Arms. Then there was prizes for the best dressed team, highest fundraiser, highest youth team -which was the Christian Cadets (boys club) from my church! And then prize draws. My youth pictured above won three months Tai-Kick-something lessons.

I just checked the Coldest Nigh of the Year site. Annapolis Valley is 5th in country (after Toronto, Kitchener/Waterloo, Calgary, and Winnipeg) and is 145% above their goal with $72,883!!! Again,

Thank You!!!