February 2018

 

It’s almost here! On Saturday, February 24th, hundreds of our friends will walk on the Coldest Night of the Year to support the Ray of Hope Community Centre. We’d love to have you, your family, friends, co-workers, church members, team mates, neighbours, baristas, mail carriers … ok, you get the idea … join us for a 2k, 5k or 10k walk and a tasty bowl of soup afterwards.

And speaking of tasty, congratulations to Melissa, who won a deep-dish lasagna (courtesy of Morning Glory) in our reader survey draw. Thanks to everyone who provided feedback!

Hope to see you at the Walk!

Even if you can’t physical join us on February 24^th, you can still take part in all the toque-toting action at KW’s Coldest Night of the Year (CNOY) walk. Or maybe you are walking and want to share the experience with out-of-town relatives.

This year, walk organizers are using ScribbleLive, a tool that will gather social media posts so they can be shared by anyone with access to social media. It’s a high-tech touch for an event that tries to address the most basic needs – food, warmth, friendship.

And since CNOY is the largest fundraiser for the Ray of Hope’s Community Centre, it makes sense to boost awareness to as many people as possible

Local realtor Brian Keith Ellis, team captain and social media sponsor for the KW walk, explains

“When there’s an opportunity to make the Kitchener-Waterloo CNOY Walk bigger and better, I’m excited to jump on it. Social media is huge and it’s an important part of amping up the event to new heights.”

ScribbleLive lets you see and respond to CNOY tweets, Facebook and Instagram posts from a desktop, laptop or smartphone.

To follow along or appear in the feed, just:

• tag our Ray of Hope social media accounts (Twitter: Twitter: @KW_CNOY and @ROH_1967, Instagram: RayofHopeKW) OR
• use the hashtags #KWCNOY or #WalkingfortheROHCC on your social media posts – your message will be shared on-screen at the walk’s kickoff and on the ScribbleLive stream on Ray of Hope’s website.

“People can share their excitement, passion and authentic moments and experiences of this awesome event, as well as the good work Ray of Hope is doing,” Brian says.

“One of the strengths of our community is our well-known ability to come together to support one another, and this is one more way we are able to do that.”

Rocking the walk in KW

The Coldest Night of the Year walk is a family-friendly fundraiser that raises money to help homeless, hungry and hurting people in 122 communities across Canada. Proceeds from the KW walk support programs at the Ray of Hope Community Centre (ROHCC).

Here are some fun facts about the Kitchener-Waterloo walk:

• The walk provides most of the ROHCC’s annual budget for 12 programs that provide everything from meals to social activities to spiritual care.
• This is the 8^th annual CNOY. In 2010, the KW event saw 200 walkers. Last year, more than 600 people “walked for the ROHCC”.
• For 6 of the past 7 years, KW has hosted the largest CNOY event, with the most walkers and teams.
• Last year, the KW event had the most walkers and teams and raised the most money of any CNOY site, including much larger centres (take that, Toronto!). See the 2018 national scoreboard to see how we’re doing this year.
• The goal this year is to have 80 KW teams and to raise $185,000. Visit the KW scoreboard to watch our team-building/fundraising progress.

Regional Chair Ken Seiling, MP Catherine Fife and Police Chief Brian Larkin were just a few of the guests who joined us for the Battle of the Bowls on January 24. This annual competition decides which soup will be served to participants at the CNOY walk.

Fierce competition among various teams across Ray of Hope produced five delicious soups to sample: butter chicken, tomato tortellini, Moroccan chicken, pumpkin, and potato ham. In the end, the tasty potato ham soup created by Welcome Home Refugee House staff was declared the winner.

There’s still time to register for CNOY as either a walker or a volunteer and enjoy a bowl yourself. A vegetarian option will also be available, courtesy of the KW Vegan Society.