Compassionate Cultural Fair supports children in Lebanon
by Charles Montgomery
Even with an ocean separating them, the children of Lebanon and the people working to give them a voice are somehow connected.
A cultural festival held at Webster Hall in Westmount November 18 brought together the International Christian Foundation for Social Security and Human Development in Lebanon and the Middle East (ICF) and The Lawnchair Soirée, under the shared desire to help Lebanese children.
The all-day festival, A Compassionate Cultural Fair, featured over 15 musicians and performance artists from diverse perspectives and backgrounds. Lebanese food was also on the menu, courtesy of Restaurant Nuits de Mosaïque.
Guests were asked to bring donations of food and clothing to be sent to Lebanon, and aside from the admission fee, tax-deductible donations could be made to aid the young victims of war and poverty.
“We had eight boxes of donations — toys and children’s clothes” said one of the event’s organizers Paul Imad, originally from Lebanon and a founding member of ICF. Following the event, Imad said they received about $2,500 through donations and ticket sales.
ICF, a government-funded organization was founded June 2005. “This is our first appearance to the public,” Imad said. Although their mandate had always been to aid Lebanese and Middle-Eastern people, the recent troubles in Lebanon prompted him to start organizing the Compassionate Cultural Fair even sooner than he had planned.
“Things accelerated because of the the tragic events in Lebanon” said Imad.
His past work in provincial social services taught him that the best idea would be a culturally-inclusive festival. “I was working for social services and I got to know a lot of ethnic groups, about their problems and their needs,” he said. He asked himself what could be done to put them together to create a harmonious context.”
Through a mutual friend, Imad was introduced to Reverend Jan Jorgensen, one of the founders of the Lawnchair Soirée, a monthly artists’ exchange. Jorgensen had organized an earthquake relief fundraiser and was happy to donate her experience and contacts with artists.
“There’s a lot of voicelessness and if somebody asks me for help, if I can, by God, I’ll help them,” Jorgensen said.
Families and friends sat together at tables chatting and enjoying the poets’ readings, the dancers and the singers.
“We sympathize with the people in Lebanon who suffered through the war so we brought some clothes for the children” said Perry Shearwood, who attended with his family.
“Cuddly things,” beamed Shearwood’s daughter SiQi, when asked what she had brought for the Lebanese children.
Jazz quartet No More Blues kept people’s fingers snapping as volunteer staff worked quickly to prepare plates of food in the kitchen.
“Obviously it was devastating to hear what was happening during the recent conflict between Lebanon and Israel. So it’s nice that people are working to make a gesture,” said No More Blues guitarist and band leader, John Inder. “We like to be involved in cultural events. That’s our pleasure. It’s a community thing.”
Imad admitted that attendance was lower than he had hoped, but he was still pleased by the results.
The boxes of donations are now being shipped to Lebanon where a recently accredited branch of ICF will receive and distribute their contents to needy children.
