Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Tamil Canadian Walk-O-Thon Raises $45,000 For Charity

News East-West Web Desk

TORONTO: Many MPs joined Tamil Canadians in raising over $45,000 in support of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) at their 4th Annual Tamil Canadian Walk at the Thomson Memorial Park on Sunday.
The event featured a five-kilometer walk, speeches, free BBQ, games and fun activities.
Apart from hundreds of supporters from the community, more than 25 partnering organizations from Tamil Canadians walked with banners in hand. “With the generous support of hundreds of community members, sponsors, partners, media outlets, and businesses, the campaign has reached an impressive $45,000 up to now,’’ the organizers – the Canadian Tamil Congress – said in a press release.
Among those who addressed the gathering were Roxanne James, MP for Scarborough-Centre, Rathika Sitsabaiesan, MP for Scarborough-Rouge River, Dr. Kirsty Duncan, MP for Etobicoke North, Soo Wong, MPP for Scarborough-Agincourt, Logan Kanapathy, Councillor for the City of Markham, Neethan Shan, President of NDP Ontario, Dr. Rajes Logan, Chair of CMDDA and Dr. Priya Jeganathan, co-chair for the walk-a-thon.

Congratulatory messages from Ontario Premier Hon. Dalton McGuinty, Federal NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair and Federal Liberal Party Leader Bob Rae were also read at the event.
Roxanne James also brought greetings from the Prime Minister and the government of Canada. Sarah Downey, Executive Vice President, spoke on behalf of CAMH and expressed her sincere gratitude for the Canadian Tamil Congress’s support this year.
Over the years, the CTC has coordinated fundraising efforts for many great organizations such as Sick Kids Foundation ($42,000) in 2009, the Canadian Cancer Society ($36,000) in 2010 and Amnesty International ($50,000) in 2011.
The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) is Canada’s largest mental health and addiction teaching hospital. It is affiliated with the University of Toronto, and is a Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization Collaborating Centre.