Photo: submitted

Coldest night of the year, circa 2024.

If you can feel the chill of winter setting in now, know that the coldest night of the year is yet to come.

In five weeks the Coldest Night of the Year (CNOY) takes place (Feb. 22) with hundreds of people on the street for the 11th annual fundraising event from Nelson CARES.

The donations raised during the Coldest Night of the Year fundraiser stay locally and support the tenants to stay housed at Ward Street Place through the Ready for Home program.

There will be “hundreds of walkers hitting the chilly, dark streets of Nelson and over 100 volunteers keeping them safe, on track, fed and cheered on,” said Nelson CARES fund coordinator Stephanie Myers in a press release.

Before that takes place, recruiting volunteers for the event happens now, Myers added. There are several volunteer roles to choose from, including walking on the day of the count, work outside before the event and help with route sign installation or during the event as a route marshall.

As well, people will be needed inside before the event to assist with the setup and decoration of the two venues.

“There are lots of volunteer roles during the event, of course, everything from check-in crew and greeters, food team, including tear-down and clean-up,” said Myers.

"I love coming out to support Nelson CARES and the Coldest Night of the Year — it’s a fantastic way to get together as a community to support our most vulnerable residents, have some fun together — and get a bit of exercise too,” said returning route marshal volunteer, Jay Blackmore.

• To volunteer for the event please reach out to [email protected] or head to cnoy.org/nelson to sign up.

Chipping in

• This year’s lead sponsor: Nelson and District Credit Union.
• Supporting sponsors: Nelson Home Hardware Building Centre, Hemlock Homes, BC Housing, Columbia Basin Trust, Ellenwood Homes, Derek Deiner and Melanie Ward Mortgage Brokers, Kootenay Co-op Country Store, CitySpaces, Urban Systems and Terus Construction.