{"id":508598,"date":"2026-03-02T02:38:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-02T02:38:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/508598\/"},"modified":"2026-03-02T02:38:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T02:38:08","slug":"coldest-night-of-the-year-walk-in-downtown-ottawa-part-of-2m-national-campaign-shaw-local","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/508598\/","title":{"rendered":"Coldest Night of the Year Walk in downtown Ottawa, part of $2M national campaign \u2013 Shaw Local"},"content":{"rendered":"

More than 110 walkers from 18 teams took to Jordan Block Park in downtown Ottawa<\/a> Saturday night to participate in the \u201cColdest Night of the Year\u201d mile-long walk.<\/p>\n

Through the Illinois Valley Public Action to Deliver Shelter non-profit organization, these walkers were just one of many groups across North America that participated to show their support for homeless populations.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe idea of the \u2018Coldest Night of the Year\u2019 is that participants walk a mile in the cold so that they can better understand a little bit of what homeless people go through in the cold weather,\u201d IV PADS team captain Susan Garner said. \u201cBeing outside and not having a home is something we and about 40,000 more people are hoping to address by walking tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n

Participants in Ottawa were treated to refreshments like hot cocoa, soup and chili, and entertainment like music and raffles to help create a wonderful environment for the cause.<\/p>\n

\"Participants<\/p>\n

Participants bundle up against the cold as they make their way through downtown Ottawa during the “Coldest Night of the Year” walk at Jordan Block Park on Saturday. The event brought together walkers from across the community to support a local cause. (Mathias Woerner)<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone is just so helpful around here,\u201d volunteer Crystal Geiger said. \u201cI like being around people who like to do good and try to make a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n

Garner and the entire IV PADS team have raised over $25,000 through Saturday night\u2019s walk, Ottawa\u2019s third annual \u201cColdest Night of the Year\u201d, to support homeless shelters in the Illinois Valley.<\/p>\n

Across the nation, the event has helped to raise almost $2 million, according to the CNOY website.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A group of walkers moves along the route during the “Coldest Night of the Year” mile-long walk Saturday night at Jordan Block Park in downtown Ottawa. The event featured more than 110 walkers representing 18 teams. (Mathias Woerner)<\/p>\n

In downtown Ottawa, participants started walking at 5 p.m. from Jordan\u2019s Block Park northbound towards the canal. Once they reached the canal, they came back towards the park on Columbus Street<\/p>\n

Executive Director of IV PADS Carol Alcorn addressed participants before the walk, saying, \u201cHow many of you would like to not have a home to go to tonight in this weather? That\u2019s who we serve, and who we want to help. Those individuals who are not able to go home tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n

Through the participation, donations and support of these 18 teams, Executive Director Alcorn is hoping to fund IV PADS\u2019 updated building when they move back in in the summer, with a hopeful move-in date in July.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are building the new building, so we are excited about that, but it is lots of space,\u201d she said. \u201cOperations and utilities like water, gas, electricity, and all those things are going to cost more. This money is going to help us meet those obligations.\u201d <\/p>\n

The new IV PADS building is still going to be located at 411 E Stevenson Rd.<\/p>\n

IV PADS currently works out of the old YMCA in Ottawa<\/a> on the 1100 block of Canal St. It made some renovations to the building to outfit it for a one-season stint before hopefully moving back to the original site this summer.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe provide food, shelter, and services. We\u2019re open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and we serve three meals a day,\u201d Garner said. \u201cWe work with a lot of different other agencies in the area to help people find housing or get whatever their needs may be taken care of while they\u2019re there.\u201d <\/p>\n

Alcorn encourages people to get involved with the IV PADS mission.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople can go to www.ivpads.com. They can donate, they can give materials and supplies, they can volunteer, they can cook a meal and bring food in,\u201d she said. \u201cThere are a lot of different ways financially. We\u2019re going to need finances. When you grow, you have to meet those new needs. We\u2019re excited about that and excited about all of the help and support. It\u2019s wonderful.\u201d<\/p>\n

IV PADS exists to provide shelter, food and services to those who are homeless in local communities to build a brighter future. <\/p>\n

The 18 participating teams Saturday afternoon were Carus, Keep HOPE Alive, Open Table Church Walking Wonders, First United Methodist Church of Ottawa, Advantech Corporation, PEO Sisters-EH Chapter, Ottawa PADSicles, First National Bank of Ottawa, IV PADS Board, Aglow Collective, His Hands, LiliPADS and Tadpoles Peru, IV PADS General Team, Illinois Valley Community College, LPHS Interact, La Salle County Cruisers, Lily Pads Too Bullfrogs and Shepherd Middle School-SADD and Student Council.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"More than 110 walkers from 18 teams took to Jordan Block Park in downtown Ottawa Saturday night to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":508599,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194295],"tags":[49,48,884,59907,20739],"class_list":["post-508598","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ottawa","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-local-news","tag-mywebtimes","tag-ottawa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508598","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=508598"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508598\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/508599"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=508598"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=508598"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=508598"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}