Rochester's Chinese community is organizing an event to benefit the victims of Hurricanes Irma and Harvey.
A sale of donated household and personal items Friday will be followed by a concert featuring Huang Bin, an internationally lauded violinist who teaches at the Eastman School of Music. Others scheduled to perform are pianists Raymond Feng and Shichao Zhang.
Irene Feng, a sophomore at Rush Henrietta High School, felt compelled to help with the events after hearing about the devastating effects of the storms.
"Just because of nature - and that's something obviously that we can't control,” she said, “your whole house could be taken away, and all of your belongings.” Feng said she knew a family who moved from Rochester to Houston and was imagining their struggles in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey.
Pittsford Mendon High School freshman Kevin Li said he and other young adults in the Chinese community were encouraged by their parents to actively participate in the fundraisers. Li has friends and relatives who were directly in the path of Hurricane Harvey.
"One of them said Houston is the city of a thousand lakes because of all the flooding,” he said.
William Cao said he and his wife initially came up with the idea to get youth in the Chinese community to help the hurricane victims. “We all heard the horrible stories from friends living in those areas,” he said in an email. “How could we help those victims?
The donation sale starts at 6 p.m. followed by the concert at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, September 15 at the Victory Baptist Chinese Church of Rochester at 285 East Henrietta Road, Rochester 14620. Tickets are $5.00 and children 5 years old and under will be admitted for free.
Cao said all the proceeds from the events will be donated to local food banks, Habitat for Humanity, or other organizations that will directly benefit the hurricane victims.
