Central Alberta Online.
Following a successful fundraising event, Red Deer’s Mustard Seed is now gearing up for another busy season.
The Coldest Night of the Year (CNOY), in partnership between The Mustard Seed and the Red Deer Food Bank raised over $92,000.
“This is the most successful year we’ve had, it’s the most that has ever been raised, at least for us in Red Deer,” said Jonathan Hildebrandt, volunteer and community engagement coordinator for The Mustard Seed.
Hildebrandt attributes the success of the event to the organizations working together.
“We can do so much more as a team and we can do a part, and that really showed this year,” he said.
The funds will be split between the two organizations, with The Mustard Seeds being allocated to food services, such as school lunch programs, drop-in food services, and to go meals.
With the spring season quickly approaching, The Mustard Seed doesn’t expect to slow down.
“In previous years, we had fewer people staying with us in the warmer parts of the year, but that’s no longer the case,” Hildebrandt said. “Since the amount of people who are experiencing homelessness in our area has more than doubled, we're pretty much always going to be full.”
Going forward, more fundraising initiatives are in the development stages to help meet service demand.
“They are thinking very carefully across all of our cities about how we are going to approach the next couple of years,” Hildebrandt said. “There’s a lot of thoughtful conversation and planning that's going into that.”
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