New Journey Community Outreach is encouraging Berks County residents to bundle up and gather for good at their inaugural Coldest Night of the Year Walk. A family-friendly, 2k or 5k walk to raise funds for Berks’ homeless, hungry, and hurting, will be taking place on the evening of Saturday, February 25, 2023. Thousands of participants will be walking in cities across the United States to shine a light on the issues of food insecurity and homelessness.
Locally, participants will be walking to support the work of New Journey Community Outreach, the largest soup kitchen and food pantry in Reading and the largest distribution partner for Helping Harvest across Berks and Schuylkill County.
“High food prices paired with persistent economic uncertainty continue to contribute to food insecurity, making the work of charitable food organizations, like New Journey, critical for many in our community. On average, 300 families receive groceries through our weekly pantry distribution as well as 900 lunches served weekly,” said Christie Botterbusch, Executive Director of New Journey Community Outreach.
In addition, New Journey also operates a clothing center, working closely with other social service agencies to get people the critical essentials they need, all free of charge.
Proceeds from The Coldest Night of The Year will support the ongoing work of New Journey. Community members looking to get involved can form a team or join an existing team here: https://cnoy.com/location/reading
Event Details:
Saturday, February 25, 2023
- 4:00 pm: Meet- Check-in opens at Penn State Berks 1801 Broadcasting Rd, Reading, PA 19610.
- Registration and walking route will begin at the Gaige Building.
- 5:00 pm: Opening remarks + send-off
- 6:00 pm: Light meal served
For more information, please contact Christie Botterbusch, Executive Director, New Journey Community Outreach, [email protected] 610-375-2662
