‘Coldest Night of the Year’ 3K walk to raise funds, awareness for Wisconsin warming shelter
Manitowoc Cooperative Ministry’s the Rev. Dr. Matthew L. Sauer says God ‘spoke a dream on our hearts’ to purchase and renovate a shelter
Cold weather kills.
When mid-January brought days of near and below-zero temperatures and wind chills approaching minus-40 to Manitowoc, Wisconsin, the local Warming Shelter had to turn away people because of limited space.
Manitowoc Cooperative Ministry is partnering with others to bring warmth and hope to those in need.
On Feb. 22, a “winterrific” family-friendly fundraising Coldest Night of the Year 3K Walk will help raise money to expand the shelter’s services, install clothes washers and dryers so that no one must wear dirty clothes, and provide showers for guests. The first-year goal is $20,000.
The Rev. Dr. Matthew L. Sauer is pastor at Manitowoc Cooperative Ministry, an innovative partnership of the historic Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and United Church of Christ congregations serving the community for more than 170 years. The city is located on Lake Michigan, south of Green Bay and north of Milwaukee.
The church’s long-term goal is to raise $1.2 million to purchase and remodel a building for a shelter that will serve 24 people daily, Sauer said.
“Never give up on God! We are a small congregation, 40 in worship,” he said. “But we listened, and God spoke a dream on our hearts and now we are leading a community to live out the Matthew 25 gospel. We are frightened, we don’t know how we can fund this, but our faith is stronger than our fear.”
While teams are signing up and raising money, donors from across the country are invited to help. For information or to contribute, visit Sauer’s team’s website.
“We hope to make this an annual signature event for the Warming Shelter,” Sauer said of the Coldest Night of the Year Walk.
The Manitowoc Warming Shelter provides a safe, warm refuge for neighbors facing temporary homelessness during the harsh Wisconsin winters. It is more than just a shelter — it’s a place of compassion and connection, Sauer said.
The facility’s permit and space provide shelter for a maximum of 12 people — but on cold nights they may have to turn away double that number, Sauer said.
More than 125 volunteers help run the Warming Shelter, open nightly from November through April, when temperatures can drop into single digits or colder at night, and sometimes the daily high is still below freezing.
“The Manitowoc Warming Shelter is an emergency low-barrier drop-in warming shelter with a simple mission, ‘No one deserves to freeze to death at night,’” Sauer said.
“We operate only in the coldest months, but we also provide two program-based homeless shelters in town: Hope House for single women and families and The Haven, for single men. Folks in our community understand the Warming Shelter stands in the gap and have been very supportive.”
The walk will start and end at 521 N 8th Street in Manitowoc, across the street from the Manitowoc Warming Shelter at First Lutheran Church.
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