The Elgin Street Mission entered 2026 on a solid financial footing, with a record-setting $140,000 raised during last month’s Mission 31 efforts.
For context, the 2024 effort raised approximately $50,000.
“We start off the year in the black and then we’re not having to do a lot of fundraising,” Elgin Street Mission executive director Rev. Amanda Rochichaud told Sudbury.com of the financial boost.
This, she added, will allow them “to serve our clients with hot meals all through those winter months. … Today is -20C, so on a day like this it’s nice to have a warm meal in their bellies.”
Located in downtown Sudbury, Elgin Street Mission serves approximately 300 meals per day, including “a lot more young families and a lot more children” than in past years, Rochichaud said.
“Everything goes right into food,” Rochichaud said of the money raised. “We’re staff light and volunteer heavy.”
The latest Mission 31 campaign launched in early December, and is an annual month-long fundraiser and awareness effort led by the Rotary Club of Sudbury Sunrisers to provide hot meals and raise funds for Elgin Street Mission.
During the campaign, Sunrisers partner with local businesses and community volunteers to provide evening meal services at the Elgin Street Mission every night throughout December. Teams of six provide donations of both time and money to provide meal preparation, service and clean-up to cover December nights.
All 31 nights, hence the effort’s name, Mission 31.
Organizers sought 31 sponsors at $1,000 a piece, and ended up with 55.
Plus, they received a $31,000 matching-fund donation by William Day Construction alongside various other donations from people and companies to round out their $140,000 total.
“Our goal was simple, to make sure our neighbours in need never go without a hot meal and a warm place and never lose their sense of dignity,” event co-chair Liz Spooner-Young said.
William Day Construction has supported the Elgin Street Mission since it first opened 38 years ago, Spooner-Young said. In 2024, Sunrisers paid tribute to the Day family’s ongoing commitment to Elgin Street Mission by giving Bart Day a Paul Harris Fellowship.
He credited his parents William and Rhona with establishing the family company’s ongoing tradition of supporting Elgin Street Mission.
The annual Mission 31 campaign has taken place as a Rotary initiative since 2010.
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.