They braved the cold and eclipsed their goal.
The annual Coldest Night of the Year walk was held in Bradford Saturday afternoon, with over 40 teams, 299 walkers and 47 volunteers collecting nearly $85,100 as of Monday morning. That surpasses the event’s goal of $75,000.
Sovereign Grace Church was the top fundraising team with $10,370 earned; Suzanne Takacs, representing Bradford Community Church, grabbed top sport for individual walkers with $3,235 collected.
“We at United Way Simcoe Muskoka are so proud to be partnered with WOW Living,” Brian Shelley, chief executive and philanthropy officer, United Way Simcoe Muskoka told BradfordToday last week. “This is an organization that's doing incredible work right here in your community and we certainly feel that that’s a partner we want to be working with, not just in the short term, but in the long term.”
Proceeds support WOW Living, a Bradford-based charity seeking to provide people with relief from the hardships of poverty — specifically the WOW-led Groundwork program, which gives people 15 and older who are dealing financial insecurity issues training, in-person mental-health support, mentorship, safe employment options and volunteer opportunities.
In a post on social media, the South Simcoe Police Service noted its team's "big turnout."
"Chief (John) Van Dyke was joined by members from across the service to walk in support of local charities serving people experiencing hurt, hunger (and) homelessness," the department said.
The event took place over 2.5- and five-kilometre routes at the Bradford and District Memorial Community Centre.
For more details, visit cnoy.org/location/bradford.
— With files from Michael Owen and Paul Novosad