WCSS doubles fundraising target at Nightwalk for Hope

Whistler’s second annual “Nightwalk for Hope” was twice the success it was in its first year—despite and perhaps even because of the weather.

“We had 150 people come to that event in the pouring rain,” said Whistler Community Services Society (WCSS) executive director Jackie Dickinson.

“We focused on choosing a night of the year where it really wasn’t meant to be comfortable—so for them to show up was what we hoped to achieve and discuss that evening.”

The event, which took place on the night of Jan. 31 in the dark and rain, was the second of its kind, after WCSS had its first Nightwalk with 75 walkers in early 2023 to raise funds for mental-health services.

This year's event was a huge success for fundraising.

“Right now we’re sitting at a total of $40,300 and counting—this is really important revenue to support mental health in the community, so we are really excited and grateful,” Dickinson said.

The timing of the event—in the dark and during a cold and dreary time of year—was intentional as a way to spark hope by bringing the community together to talk about mental-health challenges, explained Dickinson.

Walkers who took part heard from five different speakers (one each kilometre of the five-km walk) talk about issues associated with mental health, such as housing insecurity, harm reduction, and aging in place.

Dickinson said despite the rain (which was torrential to begin with), they had more walkers joining in as they walked through the village.

Donations were made through the WCSS website and the Keela fundraising platform.

Dickinson said all the funds raised will go to mental-health services and the WCSS outreach team to improve its ability to facilitate those services within the Whistler community.

“We are really pleased,” Dickinson said.

“We didn’t anticipate doubling our numbers, and the money we generated was more than what we had anticipated, but then proved to be really essential based on the fact that our other unrestricted revenue streams aren’t generating the same level of money that would normally go towards mental-health services, so we feel very grateful for that.”

Dickinson said the Nightwalk for Hope will be a permanent fixture in the WCSS calendar, with the next scheduled for Jan. 31, 2025.

The WCSS Nightwalk is similar to the “Coldest Night of the Year” walks that take place across Canadian communities around the same time every year, and Dickinson said the event in Squamish, which raised more than $80,000, is a positive sign for that type of event.

“It’s nice to see similar events resonating with community,” she said.

Dickinson added WCSS will continue to focus on mental-health supports because its staff are still hearing demand for it.

“We were learning from people outside of this place and space that they felt like they were alone, they felt they were the only ones dealing with some of these mental-health issues … even though they know it’s much bigger, they felt really alone,” she said.

“The other piece that we also recognized was, it's important to have more voices and storytelling around these really important issues—so it came from spreading more awareness about what Whistler Community Services does in the community, but also equally explaining to people that what you’re going through, you’re not alone.”

Read more at mywcss.org.