Charity focuses on youth

A Kelowna charity established well over a decade ago hopes to shine the light on an ever-increasing problem in the Central Okanagan - human trafficking.

“East Meets West” was founded by Mohini Singh with a mandate of helping children with health and education.

Since 2008, they have assisted programs in the Okanagan as well as those in Uganda, Kenya, Peru and Nepal.

Each year, the charitable foundation hosts a fundraising dinner close to the date of Diwali, the Indian festival of lights, symbolic in that Diwali represents light, hope and new beginnings.

This year’s dinner, set for Saturday, Oct. 5, will feature Canadian country music legend Paul Brandt and his program “Not In My City,” whose mandate is to prevent, disrupt and end exploitation and human trafficking.

Recent data shows Kelowna has been identified as a “destination within a known human trafficking circuit in Western Canada, where victims as young as 13 are being sexually exploited.”

Brandt will attend the dinner and is expected to perform. As many as 300 people will be in attendance.

“What makes us different is we have no overhead. Every dollar we raise goes to charity,” says Singh.

“We are all volunteers. We have no office, no staff. We personally incur all the expenses because we know every dollar we donate is making a difference at home and abroad.”

Along with “Not In My City,” the charity is also supporting the Child Advocacy Centre, Women’s Shelter, Autism programs in the valley, trauma counselling and other programs.

They will also be supporting Parade with a Purpose which supports the Bridge Youth and Family Services.

“We are very grateful to have this opportunity to make a difference in a young person’s life,” says East Meets West board chair Rahul Virk.

“We feel when you change one life, you end up impacting many more."

“What we do may be just a tiny drop in the bucket, but the ripples that drop causes are powerful and life changing.”

Click here for tickets to Saturday's fundraising dinner.