A fundraising dinner on Jan 25 at Norwood Community Centre raised $5,700 for One! International Poverty Relief, a Canadian charity that’s striving to improve the lives of impoverished children in Mumbai by providing them with
education and other needs. What began as a project for Priya Tandon’s Creative Communications program at Red River College became a very successful event, as a diverse group of volunteers and sponsors contributed time and money to the cause. One! International is the brainchild of Tania Spilchen of Alberta. During one of her volunteer placements in Mumbai, Spilchen learned that there were far too many young children who were unable to get a formal education, the one thing they and their families wanted most.
Determined to change that, one child at a time, Spilchen returned to Canada and spoke of her mission to friends and anyone else who would listen. With the support of her family, she planned a mission to return to Mumbai and open a school for these children.
With what is still a very small budget through donations from the public sector and some grant money from her provincial government, Spilchen has successfully opened two schools, in the suburb of Khar and in Nallasopara. The
schools not only provide an education but also nutritious meals, medical attention, emergency medical care and counselling for the students and parents.
Tandon had also wanted to make a difference, partly because of an experience she had when her father took her to India some years ago. It was a hot day and she had gone out with an uncle and siblings to get ice-cream. She noticed a young child looking at her eating her ice cream and learned that what Canadian children often take for granted – being able to afford ice-cream – wasn’t the case for many children in India.
The fundraising dinner, which drew about 175 supporters, was smoothly emceed by Adam West of 103.1 Virgin Radio. The program began with a beautiful classical dance rendition of a blessing done to a successful opening by Manohar Performing Arts of Canada, led by Devi Kirtan. That was followed by Winnipeg’s sitar virtuoso Joshua Stanton, accompanied by Sandhu Singh on tabla. Ten-yearold Anisha Sharma followed with a classical Indian dance piece that was so well executed that she received a standing ovation for her spirited performance.
The audience, organizers and performers took a break to have a sumptuous dinner and dessert provided by title sponsor Trevor Ahluwalia of Clay Oven. Most attendees went back for seconds, hoping their choices would still be available, and there was plenty for all to have seconds.
Following dinner, Spilchen, founder of One! International, showed the audience a video of her project in Mumbai and spoke about the work being done there. This was followed by Tandon's story of why she got involved in this event and her heartfelt appreciation for the event sponsors and volunteers in making shtis evening possible.
Then the group "OH HASEENA!" performed vocal tunes, accompanied on tabla and harmonium, and the West Indians United band followed with western drum sets, Indian drum sets, kepboard, harmonium, khalak and percussion instruments. the music was loud with very catchy music and beats that had the audience taping their toes and bobbing their heads to the music. Finally thier 8 year old drummer took the stage and went into overdrive, matching beats played on the tabla with the tempo rising progressively. The audience was on its feet, applauding this thunderous operformance, which brought the evening to a fitting end.
Dignitaries in attendance included MP Rod Bruinooge, City Councillor Devi Sharma and School Trustee Derek Dabee.
Tandon's team of volunteers included Michelle Gazze, Rich Tandon, Jocelyn Jancey Francis and Wajihah Mughai.
The success of the evening was also due to the following sponsors: Clay Oven, LiveWell Chiropractic, AVW TELAV, Royal Crest Granite, Southglen Veterinary Hospital, Tatan Hauling, Elite Lighting, Vantage Studios & Print Shop, Ballycastle Distributors, Party Stuff, Sarah and Nathan Pao of Coldwell Banker, Anita Seth of Royal Bank of Canada, the Guyanese Association of Manitob and Western Financial.
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Priya Tandon
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