Markham 'stays strong' with Wuhan, Ukraine Flight 752 victims' families

1,000 people attend Mayor’s Chinese New Year Dinner raising $170,000 for Wuhan, China, Canada Strong fund, local charities

Yorkregion.com
February 12, 2020
Heidi Riedner

An outpouring of support for the people of Markham’s sister city, Wuhan, China, and the families of the victims of Ukraine Flight 752 were two “poignant moments” for Markham Mayor Frank Scarpitti from the annual Chinese New Year Dinner that bears his name.

“We are proud to support a number of worthy and noble causes, both locally and nationally,” he said on the heels of the event.

Due to the “generosity of spirit” of some 1,000 guests that packed the Le Parc Banquet Hall, dinner co-chairs -- councillors Joe Li, Alan Ho, Amanda Collucci and Isa Lee -- also decided to donate $10,000 raised via dinner proceeds to the city of Wuhan, China.

The next day, a local business owner who chose to remain anonymous matched it with another $10,000.

“This is not taxpayers’ money, this is money that was raised from sponsorship and ticket sales for that dinner and we’re going to find the appropriate agency to give that to,” said Scarpitti.

During the event, a video was played showing people in Wuhan yelling ‘Wuhan Jia you’, which means ‘Wuhan stay strong’ from their balconies.

“It was very moving to see people in a city that has been basically shut down because of the coronavirus displaying that their human spirit has not been put down,” Scarpitti said.

“I asked 1,000 people at Le Parc to send a message to the city of Wuhan that we are thinking of them and also to stay strong,” he added regarding a video made that night showing the audience’s support for the city at the centre of the outbreak of the new coronavirus, which has infected more than 28,000 and killed 563 in China as of Feb. 6.

“What was really touching about the night was while it was primarily a Chinese audience, people of all backgrounds took pride in participating in that exercise and several of them made comments (about) how meaningful it was for us to do that.”

The “bow on the present” was raising $50,000 for the Canada Strong fund, he added.

Paramount Fine Foods CEO Mohamad Fakih launched the Canada Strong campaign hoping to raise $1.5 million for people who lost Canadian family members in the Ukraine flight that was shot down in Iran.

Fakih was at the event to accept the $50,000 cheque, but walked away with another $40,000 from guests -- including Flato Developments’ Shakir Rehmatullah, Kylemore Homes’ Cailey Stollery, Latif Fazel of Liberty Developments and Markham Coun. Khalid Usman -- who came forward with more donations right from the floor.

The $90,000 will be matched by the federal government, bringing the event’s total contribution to the fund to $180,000.

“Here we have the Chinese community supporting (and) giving money to the victims of Flight 752,” Scarpitti said. “That and the video for Wuhan were two very poignant moments from the evening that, to me, speaks to the spirit of what Markham is all about and reflects the unity and generosity of the most diverse community in Canada.”

Not counting the federally matched funds, proceeds from the Mayor's Chinese New Year Dinner were approximately $170,000.

In addition to the donations to Wuhan, China and the Canada Strong fund, the event made donations to the Joy Beyond Vision Community, the Hakka Canadian Association, the Federation of Chinese Canadians in Markham, Yellow Brick House and the Philippine Heritage Band, with each receiving $10,000