ELORA – The local Coldest Night of the Year fundraiser and walk was a big success, well surpassing its fundraising goal.
More than 20 teams of walkers raised $49,432 for Elora House, a local shelter for women who have escaped or are escaping from human trafficking.
This amount was 141 per cent of the goal of $35,000 and exceeds last year’s total raised by a few thousand.
While walkers were able to plan their own walks on whichever day they pleased, the official Coldest Night of the Year day was on Feb. 26.
The team People Against Human Trafficking were one of those who took a walk from Elora to Fergus that night.
“We walked the trail from Elora to Fergus it took us just about an hour,” said Barb Evoy, team captain. “It was no small feat because it was dark and icy on the trail but it was really amazing to see so many people coming out in honour of raising awareness for this cause.”
In an email, Evoy said the team proudly walked to drive home the message that human trafficking happens here.
The nine-member team collectively raised almost $13,000 with former Wellington County warden Lynda White bringing in $5,655 in donations, making her the top fundraiser locally.
Evoy said White was out of the country on the night but still did the walk herself in Florida.
She said she’s also proud of the Youth Against Human Trafficking team, a group made up of Centre Wellington District High School and U of G students, who are doing a 2 km walk on March 1.
That walk begins at the athletic centre starting at 4:30 p.m.
