'A Night In The Cold' Homeless Fundraiser Returns To Westborough

WESTBOROUGH, MA — An annual event in Westborough that raises awareness about and funds for homeless residents will return in March, and this year's event will focus on homeless children.

Each year's "A Night in the Cold" event features a group of local volunteers spending a day and a night living outdoors at the Colonial Plaza along East Main Street. In addition to experiencing homeless, they interact with the public and talk about ways to help.

Last year's event included local high schoolers volunteering along with the event's founders. This year, founder John Bogaert wanted to focus on homeless children. There were at least 25,000 homeless children living in Massachusetts last year, according to state data collected under the federal McKinney-Vento Act.

"After working for three years to help people currently experiencing homelessness, I felt that it was time to start focusing on the preventative measures that not only help to alleviate the trauma children currently face in homeless shelters, but also gives them the best opportunity to avoid homelessness in their adult life," Bogaert said of the 2024 event.

The March 2 event will include four volunteers. They will be collecting donations for Horizons for Homeless Children, a Boston-based nonprofit working with homeless families across Massachusetts.

"For me, and I think for most parents, your children become the biggest love, focus, and concern of your life, and even their minor pains and hurdles bring you heartache," Scott Anderson, a volunteer participant in the past three sleep outs, said in a news release. "It's just unimaginable to think of other parents' children experiencing homelessness, and the heartache it must cause them, on top of the families' real, tangible, daily struggles brought by the homelessness itself.

Maggie Hanlon, a Westborough High School senior and leader of the school's Westborough Helps The Homeless Club, will be back to volunteer in 2024 after her experience in 2023.

"It’s awful to know that a child has to grow up in an environment that lacks many of the necessities we take for granted," Hanlon said in a news release. "Westborough Helps the Homeless is excited to be involved with 'A Night in the Cold' event this year because childhood homelessness is something we have not focused on in the past but is a major issue in America.

The 2023 event raised over $20,000 for the Abby's House shelter in Worcester. In total, the volunteers have raised over $70,000 over the past three sleep outs. Anyone interested in contributing can visit donate2homeless.org. Anyone can stop by and visit the volunteers on March 2 by stopping by 45 East Main St. in Westborough.