A special dinner to raise donations for victims of the recent typhoon in the Philippines was sold out and raised about $1,500, according to the event’s organizers.
More than 120 people attended the Beijing House Restaurant in the Campbellton area of Campbell River on Tuesday, Dec. 3 and each adult paid $12.50 plus GST for a special buffet of traditional dishes from northern China, with all of the food proceeds donated to Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Canada via the Discovery Community Church of Campbell River. The food proceeds of $1,468 plus other associated cash and cheque donations added up to more than $1,700 to be matched by the Government of Canada.
The idea for the benefit dinner arose when restaurant owners Eric Zhao and Cherry Che were watching news reports of the devastation caused by Typhoon Haiyan around the city of Tacloban in eastern Philippines Nov. 5 to 7.
“When Cherry saw all that destruction she said we had to do something to help so we decided to do a special charity dinner on a night we are normally closed,” said Zhao, who got encouragement and pledges of volunteer labour from several friends and then enlisted sponsorships and organizational support from Pastor Larry Martin of Discovery Community Church and John Twigg from 88.7 Spirit-FM radio station. Further donations can be made online at www.donate.mcc.org.