Yellowknife high school students are organizing a walk on Saturday afternoon to highlight the cold that the city’s most vulnerable people must endure.
The Eeze the Freeze walk takes place on a day expected to bring a wind chill value of -48 in the morning, rising only to -37 by the time the walk begins. “Frostbite in minutes,” the forecast warns.
The walk is a project of the Interact Club at École St Patrick High School.
“It started out as a clothing drive, trying to collect winter clothes from students around the school to donate to a shelter. The walk is to spread awareness about homelessness in Yellowknife,” said Asfa Arshad.
The Interact Club features Grade 8 to 12 students at St Pat’s. Arshad, a co-president, dwells on the daily brutal cold in Yellowknife and the lack of spaces for people without homes.
Advertisement.
Advertisement.
The walk will involve “walking around and really just feeling the cold, and sympathy for people who don’t have a place to go to,” Arshad said, noting that a previous event, the Coldest Night of the Year walk, had a similar approach.
“All I’m doing is walking home from school. It’s a two-minute walk for me and I’m freezing by the end of it. I can only imagine how difficult it must be,” said Arshad. “I want to come up with some sort of solution we can do to help everybody.”
The walk begins at Home Base Yellowknife (4903 50 Street) at 4pm and will follow a four-kilometre circuit. It should wrap up by 6pm, and there’ll be chili and a bun for those who take part. It’ll be kicked off by speeches.
“This affects many people. Having this event, we can gain donations and bring light to the issue. I want to be a part of it if I can help in any way,” said Interact Club member Delina Berhe.
“I’m hoping to see people have a change of heart and be more open to the situation and chime in, in any way they can.”
