The Creek collected coins and cash totalling well over $12,000 for tsunami relief efforts last weekend.
Students at Roberts Creek Elementary School (RCES) held a benefit dance and a Kids With Coins event that brought hundreds of students and community members through their doors with pockets full of change to donate to the cause.
At the Roberts Creek Hall, the Tsunami Relief Benefit saw steady foot traffic, with over $7,680 in donations dropped in the cash box.
At press time parents and students at RCES were plowing through mountains of coins, sorting and rolling them to be sent to Unicef Save the Children Fund, while volunteers who helped with the Tsunami Relief Benefit at the hall were finalizing their numbers.
"There are still some people buying things, so the numbers are going up a bit, but it's safe to say we raised $7,680 for Oxfam at the event," said Mar-Lynn Church, who was in charge of the silent auction.
The volunteers who organized the fundraiser decided at the last minute to change their beneficiary of the event to Oxfam from Doctors Without Borders.
"[Doctors Without Borders] said they had enough money for the relief work they were doing with the tsunami and any money we gave them would go somewhere else to fund their work. So we switched to Oxfam," Church said.
Entertainers at the hall wowed crowds of cheerful givers from 2 to 8 p.m. Between sets people visited information tables for Doctors Without Borders, Adopt-a-Village and the Red Cross, giving to those initiatives too.
In total, the hall event raised nearly $9,000 for Oxfam and other charities helping in the areas affected by the recent tsunami.
"At the Saturday night dance put on by the Grade 7 students, about 200 kids came, and we raised about $1,400 from that night alone," said Barry Krangle, teacher at RCES.
Students from elementary schools across the Coast came to the dance to donate their jars of change and enjoy music and snacks provided by parents.
On Sunday the Kids With Coins event at the school garnered more support from parents and kids on the Coast with thousands of coins being tossed into the donation bucket.
Those coins are still being counted and rolled and will be taken to the Sunshine Coast Credit Union to be exchanged for lighter bills to be sent to Unicef Save the Children Fund.
"But we do have a total from the silent auction. That raised $1,600," Krangle said.
More fundraisers The tsunami relief effort is far from over on the Coast.
Eleven-year-old Daniella Donati has planned a Help the Kids Concert for the Raven's Cry Theatre on Sunday, Jan. 30, and this Sunday, Jan. 23, Angela Pressburger is hosting an Adopt-a-Village meeting to hopefully partner caring people on the Coast with a village in need in Thailand.
Pressburger had an information table set up for Adopt-a-Village at the recent Tsunami Relief Benefit at the Roberts Creek Hall. She said about 50 interested people signed up to help.
She's holding an information meeting this Sunday from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. at Chaster House in Gibsons for people in the community who want to commit to supporting a village for at least a year.
IGA stores on the Coast have already pledged to help the cause by donating three cents to the Adopt-a-Village fund for every grocery bag reused by customers.
"Every time you buy groceries and bring your own plastic or paper bags to reuse, IGA will donate three cents. It may not sound like much, but we all buy food, and it does add up," Pressburger said.
Daniella is doing her part to help the relief effort by planning a Help the Kids Concert on Sunday, Jan. 30, at the Raven's Cry Theatre starting at 2 p.m.
The event will feature Brian Harbison as master of ceremonies and musical entertainers Ken Dalgleish, Joe Hatherill, Trudy Diening, Gemini, Wind and a Prayer, Graham Walker, the Chatelech Senior Band and Davis Bay Elementary School Choir. Also expected to perform are Nicholas Simons, an accomplished cellist, and Jim Taylor, a popular dance musician.
Tickets for this event are available at Talewind Books in Sechelt. Daniella is also asking people to bring a donation for the local food bank to the event.
Daniella is a student at Davis Bay Elementary School. She was planning to fly to Pueblo, Mexico later this year to help the orphans at the Alto Refugio orphanage. But she was moved by the disaster in Asia and decided to donate her flight money to the children affected by the tsunami.
This Help the Kids Concert is another way Daniella felt she could help. All proceeds will go to the Canadian Red Cross and Pastor Ivan Fox of the Alto Refugio orphanage.
