Coldest Night of the Year raises funds for Nova Scotia's homeless

Eight communities in the Maritimes areparticipating in a national fundraiser for homeless outreach programs tonight.

Hundreds of people joined the walk onColdest Night of the Year across Nova Scotia.

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People in Truro hopeto triple last year'sfundraising goal bybringing in $80,000 this year.

"What is really exciting for us that Truro, the little town of Truro, is sitting 10th place in all of the country out of 93 cities," said event organizer Cheryl McLeod of Truro Homeless Outreach.

"We are pretty proud of the Maritimes because we actually have been watching some of the locations around this area," McLeod said. "They are all sitting pretty good on the scoreboard so it is very, very exciting for us."

By early evening, three Nova Scotia communities were among the top 10 fundraising groups.

McLeod says homelessness is a growing problem in Truro.The outreach programhas helped 95 people since April.

In Halifax, about 275 peoplebundled up and participated in the Coldest Night of the Year walk.

Organized by the ARK homeless outreach program, Halifax's goal was to raise $60,000, and by early Saturday evening, had beat thatby $3,000.