The weather was warm and the sun was out Saturday, Feb. 28, helping bring crowds for Revelstoke Women’s Shelter Society’s Coldest Night of the Year 2026 walk. While 90 walkers and 25 teams were registered for the event, Lynn Loeppky, society executive director was sure over 100 people came out to walk through Revelstoke’s downtown and raise funds and awareness for the Revelstoke Women’s Shelter Society.
“Being such a beautiful night, we got extremely lucky. There were a lot of people out on the streets. And that visibility is always good, it brings awareness,” she told Revelstoke Mountaineer at the community dinner following the walk.
The fundraiser medallion flashed gold just before walkers headed out on the 2.5 kilometre route, with the Women’s Shelter Society meeting its $35,000 goal even as donations were still coming in.
The night ended with over $36,000 raised by individual walkers, teams and local businesses. Loeppky thanked fundraisers and sponsors alike, including Kat Cadegan Jewellery. Cadegan and her team donated $1,500 to help raise domestic abuse awareness after jewelry was stolen from the downtown store.
Money raised during Coldest Night of the Year 2026 goes towards various programs Women’s Shelter Society provides Revelstoke, including in-school consent classes and free counselling open to anyone in the community. Offering ten sessions a year with a local counsellor, the program aims to make therapy as financially accessible as possible.
“There is capacity, don’t be afraid of taking someone else’s spot,” Melyssa Hudson, program councillor said in a press release announcing the launch of Coldest Night of the Year fundraising. She explained that accessible therapy resources in a community helps prevent domestic and gender-based violence. Notably, more men are accessing the free counselling shows Hudson the program is working.
“The power of men showing that leadership of themselves is how we stop gender-based violence. This is violence prevention,” she said.
Led by the Indigenous Friendship Society of Revelstoke, walkers traveled up Third Street West to Revelstoke’s old courthouse building before crossing over to First Street West and gaining attention from those enjoying an evening in the downtown core. Some stopped to ask about the walk and how to support and others even tagged along for the final half.
“We’re visiting from Penticton, I didn’t even know this was a thing. This is lovely to see so many supporting this,” Carla Johnson, who joined in during the rest stop at the Revelstoke Legion said.
Donations can still be submitted through Revelstoke Women’s Shelter Society’s Coldest Night of the Year 2026 portal until Tuesday, March 31 when totals will be tallied for all participating communities. You can also donate directly to Revelstoke Women’s Shelter Society at revelstokewomensshelter.ca/donate.
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