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Choir’s Aug. 25 benefit concert to help deafblind people ‘navigate daily life’ in South Korea

$100,000 is the fundraising goal for event at UBC’s Chan Centre for the Performing Arts
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Vancouver Zion Mission Choir and Coram Deo Foundation have partnered to present a benefit concert Aug. 25 at Chan Centre for the Performing Arts. (Submitted photo)

A charity with ties to Surrey is planning a musical fundraiser to support educational programming for the deafblind community in South Korea.

In partnership with Coram Deo Foundation, Vancouver Zion Mission Choir will perform a benefit concert Aug. 25 at Chan Centre for the Performing Arts, starting at 7 p.m. Tickets can be bought on the website tickets.ubc.ca.

For nearly 40 years, the choir has been singing in support of many local and global charitable needs. Dr. Stephanie Chung, the choir’s conductor, and her husband Dr. Peter Chung, its president, founded Coram Deo Foundation to provide education, scholarships and funding to other charities to help make an impact in their communities.

With $100,000 as the fundraising goal, proceeds from the Aug. 25 concert will benefit a healing program “that will offer much-needed support to a community often neglected by mainstream healthcare systems,” according to an event advisory.

“While there are some resources available to the deaf community as well as for those suffering from blindness, there has never been a program designed for the deafblind community. Not many people can imagine what it is like not to have access to two out of their five senses. Many of the Healing Program’s recipients start out deaf, and then begin to lose their vision as well.”

The program will provide education and training to deafblind people “so that they are better equipped to navigate daily life.”

Back in 2017, the 160-member Vancouver Zion Mission Choir hosted a concert and raised $165,000 in cash to help buy an $117,000 RFA, or Radiofrequency Ablation system, for Surrey Memorial Hospital.

Two years later, in November 2019, the choir performed a sold-out concert at Surrey’s Bell Performing Arts Centre to benefit a dental program for kids and adults with autism spectrum disorder.



Tom Zillich

About the Author: Tom Zillich

I cover entertainment, sports and news stories for the Surrey Now-Leader, where I've worked for more than half of my 30-plus years in the newspaper business.
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