News

Our 2026 Coldest Night of the Year was a record-breaking event and it’s thanks to everybody who fundraised, volunteered, donated and raised awareness for our work in the Downtown Eastside!

We’re excited to share that less than a week after CNOY, we’ve raised over $154,000 together, surpassing our initial goal by over $14,000!

This year was unique in that we’d already exceeded our goal of $140,000 before we even started our walk on Saturday. This set us up for an incredible start to the day, and with the sun shining, it felt like a true celebration of what our community accomplished together.

A big thank you goes to the 309 walkers who worked hard to raise awareness and fundraise in the weeks leading up to the big event. We’re so grateful to the 35 team captains who committed to recruiting walkers and encouraging folks to raise money to support our neighbours experiencing homelessness and extreme poverty. This year, we were joined by 15 remote teams who did the walk in their own neighbourhoods while raising money for our work here in the DTES. Thank you!

Thank you to Avi Feinberg for so beautifully capturing this event. View the full album on our Facebook page.

We wouldn’t have been able to run this event without the help of 41 dedicated volunteers! Thank you to everyone who showed up to help with decorating, set up and tear down, wayfinding and greeting, registration, route marshaling, the food truck rest stop, photography, and food service! We’re grateful that you’d chosen to spend your Saturday helping us ensure this event ran smoothly—and it did!

Thanks to our guest speakers, Jenny Kwan, MP for Vancouver East, Christine Boyle, MLA and Minister of Housing and Municipal Affairs, and Vancouver City Councillors Lucy Maloney and Sean Orr. We’re grateful that representatives from all three levels of government were present to talk about the need for housing and harm reduction in our communities, and the importance of coming together at events like this.

When Amanda Burrows, Executive Director, took to the stage to address the crowd, she shared a story about one of the many times she’s witnessed generosity and kindness that already exists in the DTES. She told a story of a man in the community who had selflessly given the shoes off his own feet to another community member who was walking barefoot.

 “As you leave here tonight, please take that story with you. The generosity already lives here (in the DTES) but what you folks do with your time and your presence and your advocacy, you folks strengthen it. Never underestimate the power of your voice, your presence here, your presence at a protest. We make change with people power. It starts in rooms like this. Never underestimate that because we all deserve to live in safer communities where the worth of everyone is celebrated and all people thrive.”

And with that powerful message, walkers were sent off to their 2km or 5km routes.

For 5km walkers, our food truck served as the rest stop for the fourth and final year. As walkers approached the rest stop in front of the Yaletown Roundhouse, they were greeted by some very enthusiastic route marshals and energetic music. The rest stop serves as a social area where walkers can stop to chat with one another while enjoying a hot chocolate or tea and a chocolate chip cookie. Thank you to our Goods and Services Sponsors, Downtown Vancouver Starbucks, for donating the drinks, and Terra Breads for gifting us the cookies!

After making their way back along the seawall and through Chinatown, walkers returned to 312 Main, where they were treated to a warm bowl of veggie chili, sprinkled with cheese and accompanied by a bread roll and soft drink. Thank you to the FIRST UNITED kitchen staff for preparing the meal for our walkers. This chili recipe is the same one our kitchen serves to community members from our food truck. It’s always a pleasure when people can experience the deliciousness and quality of food our kitchen cooks for the people who rely on us for meals every day.  

We’d like to express our gratitude to our sponsors who helped make this event happen! Thank you to ITC Construction Group for being the lead sponsor of this event. It was exciting to walk past the new building on our route, and to be able to point out that ITC Construction Group is the builder! We also want to thank our Supporting Sponsors, Strathcona Business Association and CDI Spaces for supporting this event and believing in our mission and vision for the community!

Thank you for making this CNOY the best we’ve ever had! This was our last CNOY before we move into our new building and it couldn’t have gone any better! CNOY represents the power of a collective and what a community can achieve when they come together to help uplift those who need help. Thank you for showing up for our neighbours in the DTES and taking action to make a real difference. Your time, energy, fundraising efforts, donations and advocacy do make a difference. Thank you for upholding dignity, belonging and justice in the neighbourhood.

Top 10 Teams
We’d like to shout out our top 10 teams! Thank you for your fundraising efforts and for showing up with enthusiasm for the DTES!

1. Universal Gospel Choir
2. Team Highlands
3. FIRST Things First!
4. West Van United Walkers
5. Canadian Memorial United Walkers
6. SHUCWalkers
7. Pacific Spirit Walkers
8. Crossroads United Church Delta BC
9. UHill United & Friends
10. Friends Forever

FIRST UNITED CNOY 2026 Teams and Captains
Brentwood Presbyterian Church- Brian Fraser
Canadian Memorial United Walkers- Karen Vanderheyden
Comunale- Lucas Comunale
Crossroads United Church Delta BC-  Joanna Cossey
FIRST Things First!- Amanda Burrows
Friends Forever- Bruce Frankard
Goldbeck and Launch Walkers- Henry Goldbeck
GVR gets Walking- Noe Escobar
Insight Global- Madison Delcourt
Lemonade Stand- Bryant Winters
Lynn Valley Amblers- Judith  Clark
Mt. Seymour United Walkers- Carla Wilks
One Foot in Front of the Other- Amber Tugwood
OneCity Vancouver- Iona Bonamis
Pacific Mountaineers- Alexandra Barr
Pacific Spirit Walkers- Sabina Harpe
Pure Joy North Vancouver- Mandy Shintani
RBC BC Regional Office- Holly Webb
SAUCy Walkers (St. Andrew’s United Church)- Eric Hamlyn
SHUCWalkers- Dave Moors
Starbucks Bentall 4- Michael Christie
Starbucks Downtown Vancouver- Juan Villela        
Stevens- Margaret Stevens
Sunrise- Gwendolyn  Schmidt
Sutherland Chan School of Osteopathy- Bradley  Cornwell
Team Highlands- Dave Lovely
Team TCS – Vancouver- Harry Anwar
PAYNE The Mittens- Lauren Telford
UHill United & Friends- Sandra Willing
Universal Gospel Choir- Inge Siemens
Vancouver Unitarians- Yvonne Marcus
Walk and Roll- Karen Furniss
West Point Grey United Church- Gabrielle  Mew    
West Van United Walkers- ALF Filbert
Will of the People!- Will Goldbeck

Thank you, volunteers!

Adrian Alva
Ainsley Kwan
Andrew Idoko
Andrew McCaw
Avi Feinberg
Benedicte Schoepflin
Brenda Belak
Brent Benjamin
Carrie Gillon
Cheryl Leia
Denise Corcoran
Don McDonald
Emie Bussieres
Erica Johnson
Fatemeh Feyzipour
Genice Chan
Hassan Almakrami
Holly Perkins
Isabella Roshani
Jacob Goldbeck
Johnny Zakharia
Kimberley Hurrell
Kimberly Ivany
Kimia Beihaghi
Mai Javier
Mandy Shintani
Maryam Bature
Matthew Coyne
Mer Montador
Mike Bultrowicz
Mike Cohen
Mohammed Abdul Rahim
Nina Angeles
Roger Walsh
Ryan Roberts
Sally Bellihu
Semie Graces Francisco
Vanesa Espino
Vickie Carter
Wonhu Choi
Yvonne Murphy