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Cloverdale Community Kitchen cruising toward 2023 fundraising goal

Kitchen seeking to raise $250K as part of its Coldest Night of the Year charity walk
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Participants in a previous Coldest Night of the Year event pose for a photo near the Cloverdale Community Kitchen. (Photo submitted: Cloverdale Community Kitchen)

The Cloverdale Community Kitchen is speeding towards its fundraising goal for Coldest Night of the Year 2023.

With five days to go before walkers will cruise along pre-set routes through Cloverdale, the Kitchen has raised 70 per cent ($175K) of its $250K fundraising goal.

More than 80 teams comprising more than 600 walkers of all ages will descend on the Community Kitchen Feb. 25 to walk the streets of Cloverdale in support of the Kitchen’s biggest fundraising initiative of the year. The Kitchen uses the money raised to provide hot meals for those “experiencing hunger, hurt, and homelessness” in the community.

The two title sponsors have been signed up, Katronis Real Estate Group and Peak Construction, and organizers are billing this year’s Coldest Night fundraiser as a “walk, dinner, and entertainment” event.

“Everyone is invited to participate,” said Matthew Campbell, the executive director of the Cloverdale Community Kitchen. “Come by yourself, with friends and family, or come join a team, to fundraise, and walk together with snacks along the way.”

Campbell said after the walk, there will be a hot meal of macaroni and cheese and “fun family entertainment” awaiting all the participants back at CCK, which is based out of Pacific Community Church.

“The Coldest Night of the Year is one of the highlights of our year,” said Edith Katronis of Katronis Real Estate Group. “Our team will be walking and our office will be one of the stops to warm up and get snacks on the route.”

SEE ALSO: Coldest Night of the Year fundraiser supports Cloverdale Community Kitchen

Katronis said her and her team love to bring the community together to help the most vulnerable in the Cloverdale area.

“During the year, we volunteer to help prepare and serve meals at the Cloverdale Community Kitchen,” she added. “This Saturday night will be not only fun, but it (will also) be a blessing to see the lives being impacted.”

According to a press release from CCK, registration begins at the Kitchen at 3:30 p.m. followed by an opening ceremony at 4:30 p.m. There will also be greetings from community leaders and entertainment by award-winning singer and family entertainer, Judi The Manners Lady.

“I’m excited to see the whole community come together to show kindness in such a practical way,” said Judi Vankevich (Judi The Manners Lady). “These are serious days in our world and the government lockdowns were hard on everyone, especially the most vulnerable in our society.”

A man named “Grandpa Don” said he was very grateful for the work the Community Kitchen does. “I’m thankful for the good food—it’s always better than my own cooking—and it’s so good to have company for dinner, so I don’t have to eat alone.”

According to the release, the Cloverdale Community Kitchen go its start in 2011 “when the City of Surrey and the RCMP approached Pacific Community Church and asked if they would provide meals for the homeless as another organization had closed their kitchen, and now, 12 years later, CCK has been serving the Cloverdale, Surrey, Langley and White Rock area, and the funds raised this weekend will help so many during these coldest nights of the year.”

Campbell said the night really is a “fun evening” of giving back to the community. He added all funds raised aid the Kitchen in serving more than 45,000 hot meals each year to those in need.

“You can register for free and join by yourself or make up your own team,” Campbell said. “One hundred per cent of the funds raised stay right in Cloverdale.”

Anyone who wants to sign up to support Coldest Night can register by visiting cnoy.org.

The Cloverdale Community Kitchen is located at 5337 180th Street. For more info on Coldest Night or the Kitchen, visit mycck.ca.



editor@cloverdalereporter.com

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Malin Jordan

About the Author: Malin Jordan

Malin is the editor of the Cloverdale Reporter.
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