RedFM raises $170k for Pakistani flood victims

Whenever disaster has struck any part of the world, the local BC community has always extended its helping hand to those in need. The South Asian community in particular has held several fundraisers including dinners and radio telethons. Things were not different this time around when Pakistan was hit by the worst flooding disaster in recent world history. On August 19, popular ethnic radio station 93.1 Red FM held a radio telethon in order to raise money for victims of the floods in Pakistan. Among the hosts for Salman Nasir, RJ of RedFM. The phones rang off the hook as pledges came from all faiths, ages and communities. A young child, Jeevan Parmar, came to the radio station with his money bank and generously donated $459 dollars to the victims. At the end of the day, a commendable sum of $170,000 was raised to be donated through Canadian Red Cross. The Pakistani Youth Council provided volunteers for the telethon. The lines opened at 6 a.m. and volunteers continued collecting donations until 8:20 p.m. As the Surrey Now reported, Bijoy Samuel, general manager of the station said, "Originally it was only until 7 p.m., but we realized at 7 p.m. that our phones were still ringing. We weren't going to stop." Samuel said that people are still coming in with donations. The idea came from the listeners, he said. "We're a community station. We are for the community by the community." Samuel said that the word community encompasses all people who live together. "We have a lot of people here who are from Pakistan. Apart from that, there's the humanitarian side of it. It's our duty to respond when we need to”.

For the Liberal Party of Canada and their leader Michael Ignatieff, this summer has been about listening.  As a means to introduce himself to Canadians and consult as widely as possible with voters from coast to coast, Ignatieff launched the Liberal Express bus tour, which has now taken him to dozens of communities across the country. His 105th stop on the tour rolled into Surrey, BC to visit the riding of Sukh Dhaliwal, Member of Parliament for Newton North Delta.  The riding is an important one for the party, as Dhaliwal continues to win against the odds, as his neighbouring MPs are all members of the governing Conservative caucus.  Dhaliwal was one of only two Liberal MPs in the last federal election to increase his vote total in the face of a difficult campaign. The event attracted a healthy crowd of just under 200 people to Dhaliwal's house for a community barbecue, with the majority of the crowd being young people under the age of 30.
The Liberal leader's speech was inspiring to those collected, as he encouraged the assembled youth to "gain international experience and become better Canadians and bigger contributors to the country and the world as a result."

Pakistani Flag raised at Pakistan House Surrey

On Aug 14th Pakistan Canada Association directors arranged an Iftar party, in which Pakistani and Canadian Flags were raised as the National Anthems played in the background. Many members of Pakistani community were present to see the flag hoisting ceremony.
Pakistani Consul General Mr. Moin ul Haq was the chief guest of this ceremony. He raised the Flags with kids and youth.
Qari Tayab Qasmi recited verses from the Holy Quran and made Duaa for the Flood victims of Pakistan. Jinnah excellence Award 2010 were also presented to the youth, including two awards of $500 for Grade 12 outstanding Achievement, and one of $300 in sports, which was sponsored by National Foods of Pakistan.

More than $150K raised by Radio India for Pakistani flood victims
On Aug 25, Pakistan Canada Association helped in hosting a radiothon in collaboration with Radio India 1600AM. Even though the radio channel shares its listeners with fellow station RedFM, people continued to call and pledge money. Mr. Keon Hee Kim, a listener of Chinese origin came to the station and donated $2500 in cash. At the end of the day, a huge sum of over $150,000 was raised at this radiothon. By press time, the counting of pledges was ongoing, and the final amount will be declared within couple of days. Throughout the day, PCA executives, directors, members and other community members including representatives of Miracle Media volunteered from 7am to 10:30pm.
At the end, Maninder Sing Gill, Managing Director thanked all the Radio India hosts, Pakistan Canada Association’s board of Directors, members, volunteer team,  and all South Asian community. He said that these donations will be handed over to Pakistan Canada Association executives who will channel this money to the victims.

Thousands turn up at the India Day celebrations

By: Dr Neelam Verma
 For the third time in a row, the Hindu Sikh Forum  celebrated Independence Day  of India  in Surrey on August 22nd. There was an unexpected turnout of thousands of people at the day long event held at at the grounds of Laxmi Narain Temple in Surrey. The day marked the 63rd anniversary of India's Independence from Great Britain on August 15th, 1947.   The event kicked off with a huge parade representing different states of India.  Like last time, there were representatives from different associations representing different states of India. Every participant was dressed up as per their tradition. Children could be seen dressed up in pretty lehngas, salwar and kurta suites, sarees and even lungis and waving both the Indian and Canadian flags proudly. There w ere  War Veterans all dressed up showing off their war medals, representatives of  Downtown Carnival   Band,  Preetanjali Yoga Peeth,  RCMP, Cadets, Kerela, Karnatka, Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Maharastra, Sewa BC,  Rajasthan   and many more.  There were a handful of representatives from Canadian Youth blood services, a volunteer group started by students in B.C.
NDP MLAs Sue Hammel,  Jagrup Brar,   and BC Liberal MLAs Dave Hayer and Conservative MP Nina Grewal too graced the occasion with their presence. Liberal MLA Dave Hayer read the message from Premier Gordon Campbell while Nina read the message from Prime Minister Stephen Harper.  Immigration Minister Jason Kenny's Parliamentary Secretary read the message from the Minister promising to improve immigration laws to help new immigrants. The current flood situation in Pakistan too was not missed as leaders urged the community to donate what they can to help the needy there as there millions rendered homeless in the country. His speech highlighted the historic nuclear deal signed between India and Canada, with an aim of bringing the two countries together.
A number of cultural programmes were also presented by different art and dance groups of Lower Mainland. In all the event was a mega success which could not have been so had about 200 volunteers  led by Chairman Balwant Gill, Secretary Parshotam  Goel, Event Coordintor Vinay Sharma and the rest had not participated in the event. It took the organizers about two months of preparations and organizing with the volunteers to make it a big success.
Dr. Verma is the Editor of Asian Outlook Magazine. This report has been slightly edited for publishing.