PHOTOS: Red-carpet fundraiser for Swaziland orphans brings 300 downtown

Justus Parmar, Jordan Capital Markets VP; and Riley Mari, Youth Education Farms president.Justus Parmar, Jordan Capital Markets VP; and Riley Mari, Youth Education Farms president. Danielle Molnar, Accentrix Design founder; and Pardeep Jassal, BCBusiness brand manager.Justus Parmar, Jordan Capital Markets VP; and Riley Mari, Youth Education Farms president. Jag Sandhu, JNS Capital...

Justus Parmar, Jordan Capital Markets VP; and Riley Mari, Youth Education Farms president.

Danielle Molnar, Accentrix Design founder; and Pardeep Jassal, BCBusiness brand manager.

Jag Sandhu, JNS Capital president; and Jerry Sran, entrepreneur.

Kyle Stevenson, High North Resources director; Ivano Veschini, Haywood Securities investment advisor; Aarun Kumar, PI Financial investment advisor; and Branden Haynes, NOBO Communications owner.

Chris Newell, Hitachi Solutions America senior consultant; Vito Coletta, teacher; Corey Lindsay, The Mortgage Group Canada accountant; and Jonathan Averback, The Mortgage Group Canada accountant.

Hugh Cartwright, Maple Leaf Funds president; and his wife, Jan Cartwright, HabitualLife founder.

Brandon Mari, Youth Education Farms co-founder; Stephanie Belich, retired; Allan Belich, retired; and Brennen Belich, Southcott Strategy marketing consultant.

Carmen Ruiz y Laza, Zoomer Media, JoyTV/CarmenTV host; and Rosario Ruiz y Laza, entrepreneur.

Alexis Labonte, DesignLab owner; and Nicole Bridger, Nicole Bridger Design principal.

Rory Godinho, Boughton Law Securities Group leader; Candice Peskett, Boughton Law associate; and Brian Fast, Boughton Law associate.

Kirsten Southcott, Southcott Strategy marketing consultant; and Brendan Beich.

The Young Executives performed for the crowd.

Carla and Tiki from Sasha Ali Management performed go-go dancing in the windows.

Cece Angus and Henry Gould, music consultant.

The event auctioneer Howard Blank, Point Blank Entertainment CEO; and his wife, Cassiana Blank.

Fred Lee, event emcee; and his fiancé, Joshua McVeity, photographer.

Work painted by artist Brent Ray Fraser during the event and auctioned off for $3,200 at the end of the evening.

Youth Education Farms Fundraiser 2014
Birks, Vancouver
September 19, 2014

More than 300 people attended the fifth Youth Education Farms Gala at the Birks building in Vancouver, an annual fundraiser benefiting orphans in Swaziland by building agricultural businesses. Guests walked the red carpet and bid on silent auction items while enjoying cocktails and canapés before the auction. The evening was emceed by man-about-town Fred Lee and the auctioneer was Howard Blank. Entertainment was provided by The Young Executives. More than $110,000 was raised during the course of the evening.

Youth Education Farms (YEF) is a Canadian registered charity that builds agricultural businesses in rural Swaziland for the benefit of orphans in that country; Swaziland is the most AIDS-stricken nation in the world per capita.

“The future for many youth is bleak,” notes Riley Mari, president and founder of Youth Education Farms (YEF). With the help of YEF, though, children of rural Swaziland have an opportunity to go to school and to develop skills they will use for a lifetime.

YEF spends 100 per cent of the net funds from its annual fundraiser on humanitarian development initiatives, while donations from the volunteer Board of Directors cover administrative costs and legal fees.