The kitchen at The Rice Box will go into overdrive next weekend as the Vernon restaurant hosts its sixth annual Wokathon in support of the Vernon Jubilee Hospital Foundation and the Cambodia Support Group (CSG).
On Jan. 18, The Rice Box will donate all revenue, including tips, dividing it between the two groups. For owner On Ouch, it’s about giving back to the community that gave his family a new life in Canada.
“For me, I’m pretty blessed to be in Canada and it’s why I give back, it’s very important to me to give back because of all the people that have helped us,” he said.
Ouch arrived in Vernon in 1989 along with his parents, Ath and Loeung, his brother Oeun and his sisters Maly and Malim after years spent living in Cambodian refugee camps in Thailand.
Swept up in Cambodia’s brutal Khmer Rouge regime of the 1970s, Ath was driven into the fields along with millions of his people for forced labour at gunpoint.
As the regime collapsed in early 1979, Ath escaped to Thailand with thousands of others. Ath and his Loeung, married in late 1979, struggled to support their growing family in spite of minimal food and water, war-zone dangers and camp rules including a ban on personal initiatives such as selling to earn income. Those rules were often broken out of desperate need.
On remembers going around the camp at age five with goods to sell.
“We had to make money for basic needs like food and medicine,” he says. “Canadian kids have school and playtime, but my brother Oeun and I had to work for long hours in the hot sun doing child labour just to survive.”
Ath and Loeung applied to many countries for sponsorship, but were rejected. At last they were recommended to Canada through United Nations channels. Through Canadian Immigration their case reached the B.C.-based CSG. Group president Arne Sahlen set up a group based at All Saints Anglican Church to welcome the family.
“Arne is the biggest reason why my family is in Canada, he saw something in us and he connected our family with Vernon. My parents had applied for relocation to several places including New Zealand, Australia and Japan, and they could not get approved. They were farmers and had no education so that made it difficult.
“I was turning seven when we came here. Until then, my future was nothing more than the rice field.”
On has been back to Cambodia three times since he left and while Vernon has been his home for many years, he has never forgotten his roots and has vowed to continue to give back to a country where so many people still live in extreme poverty.
“I would like to go back there and help out. CSG supports Cambodia, working in various ways to rebuild a healthy society. We are glad to give back to the agency that linked my family to this great opportunity in Canada.
“It hit me the first time I went back to Cambodia in 2002 and it shocked me how my family used to live and it made me realize that I’m blessed to have this life and that’s why I give back. I have all these opportunities.”
On has instilled the importance in giving back to his own family. He and his wife May have three daughters: Ava, two, and Kara, six months; oldest daughter Aleeya is just six but volunteers with her dad at Christmas to man a Salvation Army Christmas kettle.
“I want her to understand that her dad came from nothing. We arrived in Canada with 50 cents, a bag of rice and two boxes of clothes, so we’ve come a long way and we have to give back, and I want to teach her why we help people.”
Last year’s Wokathon raised $8,300 but a shortage of volunteers meant this year’s event was in danger of cancellation. Thanks to the efforts of Vernon Mayor Akbal Mund, it’s full steam ahead.
“It’s the community coming together and working together,” he said. “I mentioned it to Akbal and he said he would get me volunteers and he very quickly had everyone in place.”
Since its first Wokathon, the restaurant has raised $34,000 for VJH and the CSG. The funds raised for VJH are donated via the SUN-FM Have a Heart Radiothon, which raises funds for pediatric equipment at the hospital.
VJH Foundation director of development Sue Beaudry said last year, funds raised purchased a vein finder for children in the emergency department.
“The Wokathon money goes to pediatric care, and nine times out of 10, it goes to women and children’s health services on the fourth floor,” she said. “On has raised $16,000 already for us — he is such a generous man and is so passionate about giving back to the community.”
This year’s Wokathon takes place Jan. 18 from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., with Ath busy prepping and chopping meat and vegetables, and three cooks working hard alongside On to turn out countless boxes of everything from chicken chow mein to sushi.
The busiest time for orders tends to be between 4:30 and 7 p.m., and On recommends that to speed up ordering, customers can order online at www.TheRiceBox.com or through the iPhone/android app.
The Rice Box is at 3104C-27th St., near the court house. For more information, call 250-545-9929.
