Dear editor,
Big Comox Valley thank-you hugs to all who attended the recent Fantastic Fall Fundraiser for Refugees. Safehaven:Refugee Sponsorship Group raised $11,000 at the four-hour event towards its budget of $40,000.
We wish to thank all who donated baking, jewelry and silent auction items, those who bought them (especially the one gentleman whose generosity in purchasing several large items was amazing) and to all who volunteered to sell or help in any way they could. We wish to also thank the unsung heroes of most fundraisers in the valley, the musicians, hence warm thank yous to The Black Swan Fiddlers, The Forbidden Plateau Barbershop Singers and to Lainie Laughlin and Friends with Scott Lyle as well as the ukulele ladies, Linda Safford and Beth Hopkins. And of course Rikhi Datt and his samosas/pakoras, Lorena Recinos selling empenadas, added to the atmosphere as well. A special thank you to the youth of Comox United Church for helping with cleanup in the kitchen.
Also we have to thank all forms of the media, (both local newspapers and radios stations), who were very generous to us with their coverage of our press releases. Without them it would not have been such a success.
We are extremely grateful to live in such a supportive and sharing community. We are blessed to live here in a land of plenty, and we continue in our efforts to bring a Syrian family of seven who had fled from north of Aleppo and are now “sheltering” in Turkey.
Gary Stevenson
Chairperson
Safehaven:Refugee Sponsorship Group
