Entertainment

Photo: Trevor Rockliffe

Let's Dance!

What started as a tribute to a young teenager, 12-years-ago, has turned into an annual fundraiser that has benefited many in Kelowna.

Deepak binning died of cancer in his late teens. His parents decided to turn their grief into action and started the Deepak Binning Foundation.

In 2000 Kelowna’s Indo-Canadian joined hands with the Deepak Binning Foundation to host an annual dinner and dance. This is the 12th year for the event and it shows no sign of slowing down.

The dinner is a feast of Indian food and the audience will be entertained by Punjabi Bhangra music. The entertainers perform traditional and modern dancing.  After the dinner the floor is open for everyone  to dance to bhangra music. So far the event has raised $250 thousand dollars for UBC Okanagan.

Each year three community builder scholarships are awarded to students at the University. As well the fundraiser has donated close to $100 thousand to the Southern Interior cancer Centre in Kelowna and the East Meets West Orphans Foundation. It is a group that pays for  serious medical surgeries for abandoned children in Kolkata, India.

This year, in the same spirit of giving, the organizers will be making a generous donation to the newly created medical school at UBC-O, donating money to the cancer centre in Kelowna and to the East Meets West Orphans Foundation. 

The dinner and dance is being held this Saturday at the Rutland Centennial Hall at 6 p.m.

For tickets call Mohini Singh at:250-878-6271 or Andy Virk at 250-317-1656.

Click her for last year's story.