Santa Shuffle: Festive and fit Sudburians
are on the 'nice' list
Event raising funds for Salvation Army’s Cedar Place
shelter returns to pre-pandemic format
Heidi
Ulrichsen
Dec 3, 2023
Dressed up in Santa and elf suits and other
festive gear, hundreds of Sudburians gathered at Laurentian
University Dec. 2 for the first in-person Salvation Army
Santa Shuffle event since the beginning of the COVID-19
pandemic.
People were invited to take part in either
five-kilometre or one-kilometre events in support of the
Cedar Place emergency shelter for women and families facing
homelessness.
Race co-director Ashley Grant, who’s the program
service manager at Cedar Place, said the race’s
spirit is one of giving during the Christmas season.
“It’s just warmth, having everyone together,”
she said. “You can see everyone’s smiling
faces, and we’re going to have people wearing Santa
suits, and everyone’s going to be all dressed up.
It’s just so festive.”
Organizers were hoping to raise more than $5,000 through
the event. Cedar Place executive director and race co-director
Barbara Ridley said about 60 per cent of the shelter’s
funding comes from the City of Greater Sudbury. The
rest comes from fundraisers such as the Santa Shuffle,
as well as people who write the agency cheques or “legacy
donations” from when people pass away. Between
its downtown shelter and another offsite shelter, Cedar
Place is able to house 28 people.
“Primarily those that we serve are
people like refugees, people that have lost their jobs
and apartments, and people that you know, just can't afford
to stay where they are because the rent has gone up so
high and they are evicted,” said Ridley. After bringing
them into the shelter, “we help them secure housing,
we help them to fill out applications,” do other
necessary paperwork and to get furniture for their new
home, she said. “There's a lot of work that goes
into that,” Ridley said.
Angele Parent took part in the Santa Shuffle along with
her son Caleb, 12. Both were registered in the five-kilometre
event this year. “We’ve been part of this
for quite a few years, but stopped because of COVID,”
she said. “But prior to that, he was doing the 1K
(one-kilometre event). I think we came for four years
in a row. Now it just gets that tradition going again
… “It goes to a great
cause and it stays in the community, so I think it's a
great thing to be a part of.”
Heidi Ulrichsen is a journalist with Sudbury.com.
We look forward to seeing
everyone next year!
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