Hundreds of people walked through downtown Prince Albert on Saturday for the annual Coldest Night of the Year fundraiser on Feb. 28, 2026. (Image Credit: Logan Lehmann/paNOW)

By Logan Lehmann

Community effort

YWCA smashes goal in PA’s eighth ‘Coldest Night of the Year’ fundraiser

Feb 28, 2026 | 6:27 PM

Hundreds of Prince Albert residents braved the cold on Saturday evening for an annual walk. 

The Coldest Night of the Year fundraiser is a nationwide event held annually in February aimed at helping and raising awareness for the community’s most vulnerable experiencing hurt, hunger, and homelessness.  

Fund Development Officer for YWCA Prince Albert David Hambleton said they greatly surpassed their $75,000 goal thanks to a matching donation from the Malcolm J. Jenkins Family Foundation. At the start of the walk, they were sitting at just shy of $95,000. 

“If we get like a good push this last day, and maybe some follow-up donations, we just might crack the number one fundraiser we’ve ever had.” 

David Hambleton, Fund Development Officer for YWCA Prince Albert, says a few words before the walk got underway. (Image Credit: Logan Lehmann/paNOW)

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The event saw participants walk two or five kilometres through the city’s downtown area, beginning and ending at Plaza 88. All funds raised goes toward the many essential services that the YWCA provides, including the 20-unit affordable housing complex that’s currently under construction. 

“A lot of people don’t realize just how big the YWCA is,” explained Hambleton.

“We’ve got like a dozen departments in about eight locations around the community, working with women, with youth, with families, with people that are suffering housing insecurity, with settlement newcomers. So, we have a lot of services that we provide to vulnerable community members and Coldest Night of the Year allows us to raise funds that we can directly use for client needs that don’t have any strings attached.” 

All participants got to pick out a toque to keep as part of the event. (Image Credit: Logan Lehmann/paNOW)

He added the event has grown immensely over its last few installments, including from the overall attendance of the event to the amount of sponsors they now have, which this year totaled over $45,000. 

“Prince Albert is just a great community that where when there is a need, people step up. Our community stepped up once again big time this year. I don’t think it’s anything magic that I do or anything on our end – we just try to put a good event. The YWCA is a really great organization that does good work in this community and I think that’s reflected in the support that we get from community members.” 

Similar last year, Ruszkowski Enterprises was the lead sponsor and donated $7,500 to this year’s event. 

Similar Coldest Night of the Year walks also took place Saturday across the province, country, and world. 

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loganc.lehmann@pattisonmedia.com