Swift Current received a taste of winter just in time for an annual event that raises funds and awareness of people experiencing hurt, hunger, and homelessness.

Around 150 community members walked the streets on Saturday evening for The Coldest Night of the Year fundraiser in support of The Center. 

Executive director, Nathan Wiebe, said they couldn't have asked for a better day to have the annual walk.

"We feel it's really important to have people around and to be able to talk to them and not just simply be okay with asking for financial support," he said. "Being able to talk to them, being able to thank them, being able to bring them into the fold of what we're doing and why we're doing it. [Then they can] see why they're donating, why they're giving time, why they're investing."

Walkers bundled up and registered outside the front doors of the non-profit before taking off on either a two kilometre or a five kilometre trek. 

There were multiple rest stations along the route with snacks and drinks to fuel up the participants, as well as volunteers stationed at several checkpoints for encouragement and assistance. 

Since the teams or individuals signed up for the event, they have been raising funds by accumulating sponsors and spreading the word on what The Centre is all about. This year's goal is $85,000, currently at around $62,000. Donations are accepted through the end of March. 

"As an organization, we want to be very, very forthcoming with their gratitude to the community," said Wiebe. "It's been very humbling to see the amount of people that came out that day and the amount of volunteers we had come out to just help us with the event. We couldn't pull that that off without our sponsors. We couldn't do any of what we're doing just on a day-to-day basis without the community support.

"At the end of the day, we're just very grateful -- thank you to the community and thank you to everybody that showed up."