The numbers are in.
And even in the cold of a winter night, Salmon Arm has lived up to its reputation of being a giving community.
Participants in the The Coldest Night of the Year Walk Feb. 25 to raise funds for the Salvation Army’s Lighthouse Shelter collected $53,000 – the third highest amount in all of Canada.
Not only did the 1,439 participants in 50 teams double the initial fundraising target of $25,000, they more than doubled the amount raised in Kelowna.
“I think it just speaks volumes on the generosity of this community; they really get behind things here,” says local organizer Chris Moore. “Interestingly, the number-one and two communities (Kitchener-Waterloo and Toronto) did this last year, so they had a head start.”
Moore says that right up to the last minute, Salmon Arm had more walkers registered than the 1,654 registered to walk in Toronto – that considering their population of 2.5 million compared to Salmon Arm’s population of 17,000.
“We’ll definitely be doing it again next year but we’ll be better organized,” says Moore, who notes the location will be changed to better accommodate the large number of participants.
As well as being impressed by the numbers, Moore offers high praise to the chef’s program at Salmon Arm Secondary, who prepared chili for participants.
Salvation Army Capt. Glen Fraser is also impressed and says part of the money will be used to install showers and a laundry facility that didn’t get done during initial renovation. Fraser says more than 60 different people have stayed at the shelter since it opened Nov. 1 and the Salvation Army is planning to open the shelter earlier next year, at 5:30 p.m. instead of 7:30.
“We haven’t had a night when there wasn’t someone there,” he says, noting that 90 per cent of those who use the shelter are local men and women, with an average age between 40 and 50.
If the weather warms up, the shelter will close for the season at the end of March.
“Over the last number of years, by the time April hits, people find different things or start camping out.”