Raised:
$1,8756%Goal:
$30,000

Pickering

Hosted by Durham Youth Services

15Walkers5Teams58Days Left

The Coldest Night of the Year is a winterrific family-friendly fundraising walk in support of local charities. Let’s change the tune for people experiencing hurt, hunger, and homelessness... because it’s cold out there. Join us on February 22, 2025 - team up, fundraise, and walk with us!

Community Sponsors

Pickering (Durham Youth Services) is super grateful for our fantastic 2025 sponsors! View all sponsors >

Home Depot

Rest Stop Sponsor

Event Day Details

Save the date - CNOY Day is February 22, 2025!

StartGoogle Map

Peace Lutheran Church

928 Liverpool Road,

Pickering ON

L1W1S6

On the corner of Liverpool Road and Bayly Street in Pickering.

Schedule

4:00 pm: Meet Check-in

4:45 pm: Muster Gather for Opening Remarks

5:00 pm: Move Send-off

6:00 pm: Munch Light meal served

7:00 pm: Mosey Goodbye + see you in 2026!

Not able to join us in person at the Main Event? We hope you'll register, fundraise and walk offsite with friends and family.

Route Details

Route Distances: Check out the maps below to see where we will be walking.

Rest stop: Keep an eye out for opportunities to rest and refresh with yummy snacks along the route.

Signage: Routes will be well-signed with our bold blue CNOY signs.

Route Support: Route marshals, rest stop hosts, and support vehicle drivers provide support along the route.

Children 12 and under must be accompanied by a parent or guardian at all times.

No Pets: We love our little furballs like you do, but pets are not permitted at the Coldest Night of the Year except for approved and trained service animals. Read more about our pet policy >

Check-In

All walkers participating at the Main Event on Saturday, February 22, 2025 must check-in upon arrival.

Toques! Fundraising walkers who raise $150+ (or $75+ for those under 18) will receive a CNOY toque as a thank you on event day, while supplies last.

Offsite fundraising walkers can contact their local event director to arrange toque pickup the week of the event.

Have questions? Visit the FAQ section!

Handling Money

Credit Card: The Best Option! Simple, secure, automatically tax receipted for gifts of $20+. Visit the Donate page, share your personal page link, or have your donor call the CNOY Head Office.

Cheques: The Old Faithful - made out to Coldest Night of the Year with your name on the Memo line. Mail them to CNOY Head Office along with your completed pledge form.

Cash: You have 2 options:

1. Login to FundHub, click “Enter $$ and Cheques,” create pledges for your cash donations, pay them off with your personal credit card, and keep the cash. OR...

2. Write a cheque (made out to “Coldest Night of the Year”) for the total amount of cash you’ve collected. Mail it to the CNOY Head Office with your completed pledge sheet.

Waivers

All participants must register online and accept the electronic waiver.

Adults accept the waiver automatically when they register online.

Youth/Children under the age of majority need a waiver signed by their parent or guardian.

An online form will be emailed to all parents/guardians before CNOY Day.

You may also bring a filled-out printed waiver.

Waivers will also be available at check-in on CNOY Day.

What to Bring

A few common sense suggestions:

A cell phone for emergencies (recommended but not required)

Good waterproof shoes/boots for walking

Warm coat and mitts/gloves

Extra snacks if you have allergies or food sensitivities

Your own water bottle

A passion for the charity you're walking and fundraising for!

Pickering Maps

Check out this year's CNOY route maps below:

2kmView + print!

Follow the route there and back to complete 2 KM.

5kmView + print!

Walk the route there and back to complete 5 KM.

Pickering Scoreboard

Are you thrashing the competition (for a good cause)? Find out here! Stats are updated every 15 minutes. See how you stack up on the national scoreboard >

Teams

Walkers

#	Team Name	Captain	Members	Raised
1	Bo’s Best	Mark Bouwmeester	2	675.00
2	City Gates	Darren and Lucie Brand	1	200.00
3	DYS Housing Heroes (the staff, family and friends of Durham Youth Services)	Shannon Jackson	7
4	DYS Board walkers!	Christy Harper	4
5	Kindness is Free.... Pass it On	Linda Jackson	1

#	Name	Team Name	Donors	Raised
1	Mark Bouwmeester	Bo’s Best	9	585.00
2	Darren and Lucie Brand	City Gates	3	200.00
3	Linda Jackson	Kindness is Free.... Pass it On
4	Colin Rideough	Bo’s Best
5	Shannon Jackson	DYS Housing Heroes (the staff, family and friends of Durham Youth Services)
6	Leah Wall	DYS Housing Heroes (the staff, family and friends of Durham Youth Services)
7	Alba Moreno-Russell	DYS Housing Heroes (the staff, family and friends of Durham Youth Services)
8	Nicole Dannecker	DYS Housing Heroes (the staff, family and friends of Durham Youth Services)
9	CJ Calvert	DYS Housing Heroes (the staff, family and friends of Durham Youth Services)
10	Christy Harper	DYS Board walkers!
11	Gillian Pugliese	DYS Housing Heroes (the staff, family and friends of Durham Youth Services)
12	Steve White	DYS Board walkers!
13	Krista Macmurdo	DYS Board walkers!
14	Justine Gendron	DYS Board walkers!

About Durham Youth Services

At Durham Youth Services, we partner with youth ages 16 - 24 to achieve and maintain lasting solutions to their housing crisis. We do this in pursuit of our vision to end youth homelessness in Durham Region.

We are best known for operating Joanne's House, Durham's only youth-focused emergency shelter, which offers over 3,000 nights of safety and over 9,000 healthy meals to youth in need each year. However, we know that we will not achieve our vision of ending youth homelessness by simply sheltering youth. Today, DYS offers a variety of programs and wrap-around supports in youth homelessness prevention, rapid rehousing, and housing stability.

We have seen a staggering increase in demand for our services in recent years. From 2022 - 2023, we saw an 88% increase in youth seeking shelter. In the first half of 2024, that number rose another 144%! And, we also know that is just the "tip of the iceberg". Research tells us that 3/5 youth experiencing homelessness are part of the "hidden homeless" population. They are couch-surfing with friends, or living in inadequate conditions, but they are not reaching out for the help that they desperately need. And, every day that they are living with housing insecurity, they are at increased risk of exploitation, abuse/assault, and suicide.

Last year, we were lucky to receive a one-year Youth Opportunities grant from the Home Depot Canada Foundation that allowed us to place a Housing Support Worker inside the school system. We worked for nine months in three schools. In that time, we received 103 referrals of students faculty thought may need support. For the majority of the students, the issue was housing-related, and we were able to connect them to appropriate supports. For 26 of the students, they were in a housing crisis. But, because we were able to intervene early, we were able to secure safe, stable and affordable housing for 24/26 students... that is a 92% success rate!

We learned through this pilot that this program is highly effective in preventing and resolving youth homelessness, and the schools have asked us to continue and expand the support we are offering. Unfortunately, the grant has come to an end in October 2024.

Join us on Saturday, February 22nd, 2025 to walk and fundraise with us through the Coldest Night of the Year (CNOY). All money raised through this year's CNOY campaign will go toward sustaining and expanding our in-school housing support program.