'100 per cent Filipino products': Saskatoon Filipino community hosts first trade show for a good cause
The Studio at Midtown Mall was host to the first edition of the Proudly Pinoy Filipino Trade Show this weekend.
With local vendors selling Filipino-themed items and getting extra exposure in the mall’s multi-purpose space, the event also raised money for a worthy cause.
“It’s called Proudly Pinoy Filipino inspired Trade Show,” said event organizer Joseph Amodia, founder of the Filipino Community Foundation of Saskatchewan.
“So we are 100 per cent Filipino products here, and I’m so thankful for my co-Filipino countrymen for supporting this event.”
Featuring treats, clothes, crafts, beauty products and more, it’s raising money for Melissa Cordon. The Saskatoon resident needs to make an important trip back to the Philippines.
“We have a fundraiser here for Chay,” Amodia told CTV News.
“Chay needs a kidney transplant so this table is fundraising for Chay to go back to the Philippines.”
With waiting lists over five years long in Canada, Cordon has found a donor match back home. To help offset the costs associated with the trip, they’re selling fun kidney-themed shirts, bags and crafts.
“So when you buy a shirt or a pen, all the proceeds will go to her trip,” said Camille Camantigue. “Hopefully you can join us and support our fundraising effort.”
With design ideas from a friend back in the Philippines, the pair has printed the shirts locally.
“This one says ‘You gotta be kidney me,’ she needs a kidney so this is a really cute bag,” said Camantigue.
While Cordon loves all the designs, one shares an important theme making it Cordon’s favourite.
“No one fights alone,” she said. “Just a lot of people have supported us, so we’re just overwhelmed by the support from our friends and the community as well.”
While this is the first event for Amodia’s foundation, he says he’s got plans for more events in the near future, sharing Filipino and South Asian culture as well as aligning with a good cause.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
They were from different countries and barely spoke each other's languages. More than 20 years later, they're still happily in love
He decided to spend Christmas somewhere that wouldn't involve snowstorm disasters. She was spending the holidays with family, travelling for the first time outside of her native country of Venezuela. 23 years later, they're still in love.
Man who set himself on fire outside Trump trial dies of injuries, police say
A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former U.S. President Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said.
Verdun Airbnb listing taken down amid complaints, fines and frustration from neighbours
An Airbnb in Montreal's Verdun borough was the source of much frustration from neighbours who say there were constant parties at the location. It has been taken down from the app, but housing advocates remain upset about short-term rentals.
Young people 'tortured' if stolen vehicle operations fail, Montreal police tell MPs
One day after a Montreal police officer fired gunshots at a suspect in a stolen vehicle, senior officers were telling parliamentarians that organized crime groups are recruiting people as young as 15 in the city to steal cars so that they can be shipped overseas.
12 students and teacher killed in Columbine school shooting remembered at 25th anniversary vigil
Thirteen victims of the Columbine High School shooting were remembered during a vigil Friday on the eve of the 25th anniversary of the shooting that was the worst the nation had seen at the time.
Israeli airstrike in southern Gaza city of Rafah kills at least 9 Palestinians, including 6 children
An Israeli airstrike on a house in Gaza's southernmost city killed at least nine people, six of them children, hospital authorities said Saturday, as Israel pursued its nearly seven-month offensive in the besieged Palestinian territory.
Mandisa, Grammy award-winning 'American Idol' alum, dead at 47
Soulful gospel artist Mandisa, a Grammy-winning singer who got her start as a contestant on 'American Idol' in 2006, has died, according to a statement on her verified social media. She was 47.
Iraq investigates a blast at a base of Iran-allied militias that killed 1. U.S. denies involvement
Iraqi authorities said Saturday that they were investigating an explosion that struck a base belonging to the Popular Mobilization Forces, a coalition of Iran-allied militias, killing one person and injuring eight.
The House is on the brink of approving aid for Ukraine and Israel after months of struggle
The House is preparing in a rare Saturday session to approve US$95 billion in foreign aid for Ukraine, Israel and other U.S. allies.