THUNDER BAY - It was far from being the coldest night of the year, but the warmer temperatures did not take away from opening people’s eyes to the struggle some of the most vulnerable people in the community face on a daily basis.
“I’m walking for those people who are homeless and hungry and hurting,” said Peter Viitala. “We are out there walking in the evening in the cold, like homeless people would be. And that’s not an easy thing in the middle of winter and that is what homeless people are doing right now. We are becoming aware a little bit of what it’s like to be a homeless person.”
More than 300 people participated in the 6th Annual Coldest Night of the Year Walk on Saturday. Walks were held across Canada to raise awareness about vulnerable populations who may be living on the streets.
Organized by Grace Ministries in Thunder Bay for the last six years, the walk is also meant to serve as a fundraiser for Grace Place, which provides meals and shelter to people living on the street.
“Over the past five years, we’ve raised more than $300,000 and that has allowed us to purchase a building, put in a commercial kitchen at Grace Place, and repair the roof,” said Grace Ministries Pastor, Gary Macsemchuk.
This year, Macsemchuk expects the walk will bring in more than $70,000, which goes a long way in supporting programming at Grace Place on Simpson Street. According to Macsemchuk, Grace Place serves more than 45,000 meals every year.
“For the coldest months we have an out of the cold program where we have up to 10 or 12 individuals who can’t access any other shelters in town and they stay in overnight,” he continued.
The walk included a two, five, or 10 kilometre route and provided people an opportunity to visit Grace Place on Simpson Street to learn more about what services it provides.
Viitala, who is part of the organizing committee for the Coldest Night of the Year Walk, also volunteers at Grace Place.
“I see people coming in through the front door, coming in for a hot meal who are in huge need,” he said. “So that’s why I’m here, to help those people in any way I can.”
But one of the most important aspects of the walk is to open people’s eyes to what it is like living on the street during some of the coldest months of the year.
“It gets people to experience what it’s like to be out on the streets on a cold winter night and experience what the homeless and the hurting are experiencing,” Macsemchuk said. “Quite often we live in our neighbourhoods that are safe, and we don’t normally see that side of society and people who are homeless.”
Even the youth were out on Saturday participating in the walk, including nine-year-old Morgan Sand and her friend Carter Cline.
“This is my fourth year doing it,” Morgan said. “There are a lot of different reasons to do it. It’s a lot of fresh air and it’s for charity.”
This was Carter’s first time participating in the walk and he said he wanted to do it to help others.
“I wanted to raise money for people who have no shelter,” he said. “Because people don’t have a lot so I want to help them raise money.”
And even for Morgan and Carter, who are only nine-years-old, they still understand the significance of the walk and what it is meant to symbolize.
“It is to feel like they would feel,” Morgan said. “It makes me feel sad. It would make me feel sad if that happened to me. So people walk so they can know what it would feel like to be others.”
