Saturday in Brandon 90 people gathered for the annual Coldest Night of the Year fund raising walk to support services offered by Samaritan House Ministries. 

This marked the 10th anniversary of the walk in Brandon. 

Barbara McNish is executive director of Samaritan House Ministries, and she says the walk is an important fund-raising tool that helps them provide their services.  “Last year we handed out more than 35,900 food hampers and another interesting number is we helped 1,052 new families.” 

McNish was pleased to see another strong show of support. The 2024 walk raised more than $27,000. 

“When people come to our food bank and they’re getting things like bread and peanut butter they’re using it as a grocery store in a lot of ways. Even if the food is only for two meals or two days, it shows people still need food. 

“Quite often these people are working two or three jobs, it’s minimum wage and there are several things to take into account when we’re looking at helping these people meet the need of food security,” said McNish.