• Silent auction at Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre near the gift shop by the main entrance — Today (Friday Jan. 29) 10 a.m.-3 p.m.
A hospital employee, Terry Villaneaue, was motivated to do her part to help Haiti because her youngest daughter was adopted from Haiti five years ago.
Her unit of the hospital decided to start raising money, and challenged the other units to meet or beat their sum by Feb. 1.
So to boost her unit’s fundraising, Villaneaue is holding a silent auction next to the gift shop.
Some of the items up for grabs include accommodation in Costa Rica and at Radium Resort, homemade quilts, gift baskets, and services from the likes of clowns, landscapers and Filipino-food caterers.
All proceeds go to the Red Cross Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund.
• “Hope for Haiti” benefit concert in at Christian Reformed Church — Feb. 5, 7 p.m.
Eleven-year-old Susanna Heystek’s first thought when she heard about the earthquake was to bake cookies to help out.
When her parents explained that there were better ways to aid the earthquake victims, Heystek, a fiddle player, started cooking up a plan.
“She couldn’t stand all the suffering and just said she needed to help these people,” said Niel, her father.
So Susanna invited all her music friends to come out and play a benefit concert. Taking place in Rocky Mountain House, the event will also feature live and silent auctions and, likely, some videos showing the extent of the destruction.
There’s no fee to get in, and attendees can donate to the charity of their choice — either Red Cross, or to the reconstruction of an Ontario-administered Christian school that was destroyed in the earthquake.
• “Heart and Soul for Haiti” benefit concert at Canadian University College — Feb. 5, 7:30 p.m.
A benefit concert in Lacombe will act in part as a tribute to a Canadian University College professor whose daughter was killed in the earthquake.
Ted Merceus and Roberson Dorelus, two of the students helping organize the event, both have families who were originally from Haiti.
There will be a mix of music from the community and from the school, including “a song or two in creole just to get that Haitian vibe in,” Merceus said.
Attendees are invited to donate whatever they want. The money raised will go to A Better World’s project in Haiti.