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Anti-poverty event goes pro-Bono; Gananoque cottager inspires U2 frontman to support fundraiser
Lisa Keyes was in the midst of a busy day at home with her young daughter when she received an unexpected phone call.
On the other line was a representative for the Make Poverty History organization, calling on behalf of Bono.
A week-and-a-half prior, Keyes had sent a letter to the U2 frontman to tell him of a fundraiser she's organizing.
"They said Bono was inspired by my letter and want to know what he could do to help," Keyes said.
"I just asked if they'd be interested in sending some posters, banners and wristbands."
The fundraiser - called U2 R Trapped in a World of Child Poverty - is a champagne brunch to take place on Aug. 26 at the Captain's Table Restaurant at the Ivy Lea Club in Lansdowne. The event will also include a silent auction, a raffle and a musical performance by Brian Flynn. "It's an event to raise awareness and funds for those living in extreme poverty," Keyes said.
She decided to organize the fundraiser because "life is bigger than ourselves and we all need to work together. ... Everyone should have the right to food and to human rights."
Money raised through the event will go toward three projects organized by Care Canada and World Vision.
In Cambodia, Care Canada representatives will help local teachers teach young girls how to think creatively, and to make positive choices.
"They can bring their experiences back home and teach their family members and help create less violence in their homes," Keyes said. "The project will also strengthen their ability to deal with health issues they face."
The Care Canada project in Malawi will also focus on helping young women.
"[It will] bring education to young girls about HIV/AIDS and assertiveness training," Keyes said. "It will enable their social growth and educational growth and give them the life skills to make safe choices."
As she was researching organizations to work with for the fundraiser, Keyes said she was struck particularly by Care Canada because of the way they incorporate local culture into their work.
"They train these people and teach them how to take care of one another," she said. "I just think it's an amazing organization."
Keyes added that she appreciated knowing only 2.6 per cent of all donations to Care Canada go towards administrative work.
A World Vision project in Cambodia will focus on reducing the transmission of HIV/AIDS from mother to child by administering anti-retroviral medicine to prenatal women and their newborns.
Keyes said her initial goal was to raise between $10,000 to $15,000. "I don't think that's going to be possible, but we'll raise what we can," she said. Because the projects are funded by CIDA, the government will contribute three times the amount of money the fundraiser brings in to the projects.
"I'd like to thank everyone who's contributed," Keyes said, listing the various groups and companies which offered goods for the silent auction.
"And I'd like to thank Bono for his face [in the fundraiser]. ... Bono sent all this stuff, it was all his encouragement."
For more information, go to u2rtrapped.org . You can donate directly to World Vision and Care Canada from the website.
Donations can also be sent to: National Headquarters - care of u2rtrapped.org, 9 Gurdwara Road, Suite 200, Ottawa, ON, K2E 7X9.
