More Than $50,000 Raised For Philippines Typhoon Victims At An Indo-Canadian Community Event

SURREY – More than$50,000 was raised at an Indo-Canadian community frontedevent in Surrey Thursday nightwhere more than 1,000 people,majority Indo-Canadian,came together to raise moneyfor victims of Typhoon Haiyan.A silent auction was heldand there were performancesfrom several celebrity tributeacts.Event organizer NellieVandt told CKNW radio thatshe’s been unable to contact anumber of family members.She says watching thenews coverage on television isdifficult.“Dead people on theroad. I’m so scared because Imight see one of my relativesthere. My cousin is missing.He’s missing now. We haven’theard from him.”Vandt adds she’s gratefulfor all the support from thecommunity.The Thursday night benefitconcert was planned byIndo-Canadian car dealerSukhi Bath, who pledged topay for the hall and 1,000dinners – a value of about$20,000. Organizers said morethan 50-thousand dollars wasraised but the final tally is stillbeing calculated.The $30-per-person CelebrityTribute featured dinnerand entertainment, includingperformances by Filipino Canadiansand a silent auction.“Our goal is to raise$50,000 total,” said Bath, whosaid he will personally guaranteea minimum of $20,000 inproceeds to the Canadian RedCross for typhoon relief.“It’s no matter where thedisaster happened, it doesn’tmatter what colour, what religionwe are,” Bath told theNow newspaper. “We’re allhumans and this is our ethicalduty. We live in a wonderfulcountry and we’re in a positionto help those people.”To directly contribute tothe Canadian Red Cross forPhilippines relief, visit redcross.ca or call 1-800-418-1111.