A
Benefit Concert for Typhoon Victims
in the Philippines
THE
Traveling Bonfires holds a fundraise event on Dec 5, Thursday, for
typhoon victims in the Philippines. The organization, which made
Asheville its home in the last 12 years, was formed in the
Philippines in the 1980s.
Billed
“Soup, Songs, Solidarity: A
Benefit Concert for Typhoon Victims in the Philippines,” the event
features local performers Malcolm Holcombe, Daniel Barber, Aaron
LaFalce, Pipapelli, and poets Laura Hope Gill, Caleb Beissert and Pasckie Pascua.
Emcee
is Jadwiga McKay and Caleb Beissert.
Cover
is $18 at the door ($15 in advance), $10 for students with ID, $5 for
children under 12. There will also be a Silent Auction. Soup and
other traditional Filipino food will also be served. (To purchase
tickets in advance, go to: http://www.whitehorseblackmountain.com/)
Beneficiary
of the proceeds is the Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement (http://www.prrm.org/), a non-governmental
organization and institution formed in 1952 in order to assist
the poor members of society in the Philippines.
Typhoon
Hiayan, considered the strongest typhoon to land this year, has
claimed thousands of lives in the southern provinces of the
Philippines. Half
a million people are without homes and cold due to continuous rains
and flooding. Food, safe water, and medicines are also scarce.
Millions more are adversely affected.
Attendees
to the show are enjoined to bring used clothes, blankets, and canned
goods to the typhoon victims. The Traveling Bonfires sends boxes of
goodies to the Philippines on a monthly basis. Typhoons visit the
islands more than a dozen times each—though Typhoon Haiyan was the
strongest and most destructive, so far.
The
TBonfires' centerpiece project is the spring to summer “Bonfires
for Peace at Pritchard Park” in downtown Asheville, a concert
gathering for family and community. The program, which held its 11th
year this year, also had parallel events in Baltimore, New York City,
Los Angeles, San Francisco and Manila and Baguio City in the
Philippines through the years.
Founded
by journalist Pasckie Pascua in Manila in the turbulent 80s, the Traveling Bonfires has made Asheville its home
since moving here from New York City in 2002. It had a two-year
sojourn in Los Angeles from 2007 to 2009, “but Asheville is our
home barrio, this is where we belong,” explains Pascua.
The
Traveling Bonfires' events enjoyed the support of local
Asheville businesses, organizations, and individuals. Projects have
benefited non-profit organizations that work with at-risk youths,
families of the disappeared, orphan and disaster victims. For more
info, http://ashevilletravelingbonfires.blogspot.com/ or call Marta
Osborne at 828 280 2309 or email pasckie@yahoo.com
[Photos by Reuter]
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