YWCA Regina launches Coldest Night of the Year 2020

Regina – January 20, 2020

YWCA Regina is holding a media launch for Coldest Night of the Year (CNOY) on Wednesday, January 22nd at 10:30 a.m. at O’Hanlon’s Irish Pub at 1947 Scarth Street. The launch will include a short presentation about CNOY Regina 2020 followed by refreshments and opportunities to interview event organizers.

Coldest Night of the Year is an annual event held in communities across the country to raise money and awareness in support of family homelessness and poverty programs. This year CNOY Regina will be held on Saturday, February 22nd starting at St. Paul’s Anglican Cathedral on McIntyre Street. Participants will walk a route two, five, or ten kilometers in length through Regina’s Downtown and Heritage neighbourhoods. CNOY is family-friendly and everyone is welcome. Walkers range in age from toddlers to active seniors. By walking at dusk during a cold winter’s night, walkers feel a hint of the challenge faced by people experiencing homelessness.

Why support CNOY? “It’s cold out there!” Funds collected during the Coldest Night of the Year campaign will help YWCA Regina bring hundreds of women and children in from the cold. YWCA Regina shelters are at maximum capacity. For example, in 2019 My Aunt’s Place (MAP), Regina’s only 24-hour emergency homeless shelter for women and families, served 512 women and their children. Unfortunately, MAP had to turn away over 1500 women along with their children due to lack of available space last year. There is a great deal of need and Coldest Night of the Year can help fight family homelessness.

Melissa Coomber-Bendtsen, YWCA Regina CEO, and other event organizers will be available at the launch for media interviews.

To learn more about Coldest Night of the Year, please visit https://cnoy.org/location/regina.

Media contact: Donna Boyle, YWCA Regina Director of Communication
Email: donnab@ywcaregina.com
Phone: 306-525-2141 ext. 145