BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

06/02/2009

Valentine's dance will aid orphans in Belarus

BY HEATHER ABREY, ENTERPRISE STAFF

Sweethearts can use Valentine's Day as an opportunity to help orphans in Belarus by attending the sixth annual Valentine Dinner Dance and Silent Auction in support of Canadian Aid for Chernobyl (CAC) at Glen Eagle Golf Club.

The evening will begin at 5:30 p.m. with cocktail hour and a chance to view donations that will be up for auction, both live and silent, including items such as purses, home made food items, golf tournaments and a bicycle. After cocktails, a four-course dinner will be served.

"We've sent almost $50,000 in five years," said Jennifer Hopson, member of the Caledon chapter of Beta Sigma Phi, which organizes the yearly event. "People come and they say, 'It's such a good cause, I'll be here next year.' And that's what we're hoping for. This year's a bit tougher because of the economy."

Proceeds from this year's dance will go to fund a new satellite project CAC is working on with the Regional Department of Education in Mogliev, Belarus. Usually orphans have to leave their orphanage at 16, but with this project, will be allowed to stay in a new dormitory to be built until they finish Grade 10 and 11 in public school. The hope is to dramatically reduce the high rate of pregnancies, crimes and suicides that are common when youth leave their orphanage.

The CAC is involved in a number of different initiatives to help the people of Belarurwho suffer from the after effects of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, in which a nuclear reactor exploded, causing wide spread radiation fallout. It's estimated that nearly 70 per cent of the nuclear fallout fell on Belarus due to proximity and wind movements that day.

Some orphans are sponsored by Canadian families, and visit periodically, offering their bodies some respite from the barrage of nuclear radiation they experience on a day-to-day basis in Belarus.

"They're very pale when they come, and when they leave here they have rose coloured cheeks," said Hopson, whose own family sponsors a boy named Alex.

At one time a largely agricultural country, the Belarusian economy has been crippled by the disaster, leading to widespread poverty, according to Hopson. "It's like going back in time 50 years," she said. "Being a nurse, I was saddened by the conditions."

All proceeds from the Valentines Dance will go to the CAC, and since it is a volunteer based operation, 97 per cent of the funds received will directly benefit the people in need.

For more information and tickets call (905) 584-2634 or (905) 584-9358.

Source:

http://www.caledonenterprise.com/article/64589

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