Coldest Night of the Year in support of Leftovers Foundation

LOCAL FOOD RESCUE ORG WELCOMES COLDEST NIGHT OF THE YEAR ON FEB. 28 Winnipeg, February 28, 2026 – Leftovers Foundation is encouraging Winnipeg residents to team up, fundraise, and walk in The Coldest Night of the Year (CNOY). This family-friendly, winterrific fundraising walk takes place on the evening of Saturday, February 28, 2026 and supports people experiencing hunger, hurt, and homelessness in Winnipeg. Walkers are encouraged to register to attend the event and invite their networks to pledge their financial support for Leftovers’ campaign. Tens of thousands of Canadians will take to the streets for CNOY with events taking place in 200 cities, towns, and communities across the country. By walking together in the chill of the evening, participants will better understand the experience of being on the streets during a cold Canadian winter, while raising funds to aid the work of Leftovers Foundation, a food rescue charity with an aim to reduce food waste and increase food access for nonprofit organizations across the city.

The Winnipeg walk begins and ends at Sergeant Tommy Prince Place, located at 90 Sinclair St. Participants will walk a 2.5 km or 5km route, can warm up with toasty drinks at a rest stop along the way, and will be able to celebrate their efforts together at the finish line with a warm meal! All those who raise over $150 (or $75 for youth) will also don iconic CNOY toques as they face the cold night.

This is Leftovers’ second year taking part in the Coldest Night of the Year, with a fundraising goal of $26,000 to help fund the expansion of the group’s food rescue efforts as the demand for services rises and food security becomes an increasingly pressing issue. “Since we launched in Winnipeg, we have seen a dramatic increase in organizations that exist to help people with food access. Last year, we transported over 600,000lbs of food to over 150 nonprofit organizations across the city.” says Alyssa Wolfe, Operations Manager Leftovers has been serving the Winnipeg community since late 2020 and rescued over 3.2 million lbs of good food from ending up in landfill since the Manitoba chapter began – almost entirely through volunteer effort. The funds raised in the Coldest Night of the Year will help Leftovers with on-going operational costs of running this community-based response to food redistribution. Leftovers is all about providing the “just in time logistics” that businesses need to get surplus food from where it is, to where it needs to be – which is in the hands of community members who don’t have enough to eat. February is a time of the year known historically for low levels of giving, so any contribution helps. Donations can be made through our event page at https://cnoy.org/location/winnipegnorthend For further information, please contact: Event Director Alyssa Wolfe Operations Manager for Leftovers Foundation 3-585 Jarvis Ave. alyssa@rescuefood.ca / 204-869-6373 https://cnoy.org/location/winnipegnorthend For National Event information, contact: Brian Carney, CEO brian@blueseafoundation.org 1-519-603-2250 https://cnoy.org/