Comedy for Cambodia [in Canada]

Local organization Carpenters 4 Cambodia to host comedy event to raise money for impoverished families

By Marie Pollock
Senior Reporter

Airdrie Echo
Alberta, Canada

The dinner starts at 6:30 p.m. and the comedy show starts at 8 p.m.

Tickets to the event are available at Dick's Pub, or by visiting carpenters4cambodia.com.

marie@airdrieecho.com

Airdrie residents who love to laugh will have a special reason to go for a night out this weekend.

Local organization Carpenters 4 Cambodia is hosting its second annual Comedy 4 Cambodia buffet supper and fundraiser at Dick's Pub Sunday night in an effort to raise money for impoverished children and families in the Asian country.

Carpenters 4 Cambodia was started three years ago after one of its founding members took a trip to Cambodia. Upon his return, he convinced Airdrie resident Jamie Moorhouse to help start up the organization.

After agreeing to be a part of the charity, Moorhouse took his own trip to Cambodia to take a closer look at what the organization would be doing.

"I got there, and I thought 'this is not the place for me,'" Moorhouse said. "Then I went to one orphanage and I met one kid and I just fell in love with those kids."

The organization has made a number of trips to Cambodia over the last few years, helping to repair and upgrade orphanages and build schoolhouses for the country's children.

Their most recent trip in 2010 was their trip biggest to date. The group spent eight days building a schoolhouse for 220 children.

"They're just the friendliest, happiest people I've ever met," Moorhouse said of the kids. "Comparatively speaking, they just have nothing. They're running around barefoot, playing in the dirt, barely eating enough to stay alive, but they couldn't wipe the smiles off their faces and they were so grateful for everything we did. It was just infectious."

Comedy 4 Cambodia costs $20, which includes a buffet dinner and a comedy show from comedian Lori Gibbs. Gibbs has appeared a number of times at Yuk Yuk's Comedy Club in Calgary.

The event will also include a silent auction, where Airdronians can bid on products and services donated by local businesses.