Boundless Generosity
Thank you, St. Catharines and Niagara, for your boundless generosity during this Coldest Night of the Year campaign. While our event was quite different this year, we were able to surpass our goal this year.
Because of the extraordinary compassion on the part of our donors, sponsors, walkers, and team captains, Start Me Up Niagara raised over $170,300 this year, that 113% of our goal!
Our {virtual} opening ceremonies can be found here.
Working Together
Because of the compassion and hard work of the people of St. Catharines and Niagara, Start Me Up Niagara will be able continue its mission to provide a variety of services to individuals who face significant life challenges to provide them with opportunities to stabilize, participate and grow.
Start Me Up Niagara wants to thank General Motors, our lead Coldest Night of the Year sponsor, for another great year. GM has been with us since 2016 as a lead sponsor – that's six years of a fantastic partnership. As a team, the aptly named "Powertrain Walkers," General Motors raised an additional $5,000. GM always goes above and beyond for us here at SMUN.
They are always very supportive of what we do here, and we are grateful for their partnership year after year.
Moving Forward
At Start Me Up Niagara, we offer services to support people facing significant challenges such as poverty, homelessness, unemployment, disabilities, addictions and mental illness. COVID-19 has heightened an already critical situation with those experiencing poverty and homelessness in our community and across the country. According to Public Health Canada, "those who experience homelessness may be at higher risk of contracting COVID-19 … due to barriers to accessing traditional services and standard resources, particularly Indigenous women and girls, and gender-diverse people, who report difficulty in accessing shelters."
Our goal is to provide opportunities for these individuals to increase their self-sufficiency and improve their quality of life. Our services range from community lunches, health care, and arts and gardening programs to housing supports and employment development. Together, we are working to build a community where all are included.
