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Welcome to the web page for the Gatineau/Ottawa's Support Haiti! Latin Dance Night Fundraiser!

Heartfelt thank-you to everyone who supported our Haiti Fundraiser
held at Club Caliente on January 30, 2010!!!
$ 2,340.86 was raised that night thanks to your generous contributions! All proceeds have been donated to the Canadian Red Cross to help with the Haiti earthquake relief effort. The funds you kindly donated will be matched by the Canadian government and therefore will double in impact! Again, our sincere thanks to everyone!!!

This fundraiser is one of the initiatives of people in the Gatineau/Ottawa area who enjoy Latin music and dance. In the past two weeks, we have witnessed the human suffering caused by the earthquake in Haiti and we have also seen many of our Haitian friends and family members here in Ottawa being affected by that terrible disaster. We want to do our part to help and to show our support and solidarity!

We invite everyone, dancer or not, to come to our fundraiser on January 30 at Club Caliente in order to celebrate Haitian spirit through dance and music, and to give whatever help we can to the Haitian people. A few of our Haitian friends will be with us that night despite the tragedy that has affected them personally! We hope you support us!

To make sure that you enjoy your evening, we have a number of activities planned. We will start the evening at 8:00 pm with a salsa dance workshop given by one of the city's best Latin dance schools. We are offering several salsa dance performances, again by some of the best dance performers in Gatineau/Ottawa. When you come to the party, you will be greeted by our friendly Party Hosts. Our Party Hosts are advanced dancers who will be volunteering their time to dance with everyone and teach you a few dance steps if you so wish. To learn more about our Party Hosts, please follow this link. Those who do not wish to dance will be comfortably seated at the tables around the dance floor providing a good view of the performances. We will close the evening with a song dedicated to Haiti (performed live by the author).

Below is a preliminary schedule. Please note that we reserve the right to modify it.

8:00 pm	Doors open for a beginner-level dance workshop given by Komlanvi Dodjro and Claudine Martel of GoSalsa dance school. Everyone is welcome to come early for drinks and socializing!
9:00 pm	Dance floor opens for social dancing.
9:30 pm	Welcome remarks from representatives of the Embassy of Haiti in Ottawa and the Canadian Red Cross as well as from event sponsors and organizers.
9:45 pm	Salsa dance performance by Edline Etienne and Abby Ambrose of PAZAPA Dance School Salsa dance performance by Luc Poulin and Julie-Anne Codaire of SalsaOlé Latin Dance School & Performances. Haitian Folk dance by Edline Etienne and Martine Senatus of PAZAPA Dance School.
9:55 pm	Social dancing continues.
10:30 pm	The song Leve pou Ayiti is performed live by the author, Antonio Point-du-Jour.
10:45 pm	Social dancing continues till 2 am.

We have a number of generous sponsors supporting the event. Their support ensures that every cent you pay for your ticket between 7:45 pm and 11:00 pm will go to the Haitian people, with no administrative costs involved. All proceeds will go to the Canadian Red Cross. Tickets to the event are selling at $10; however, you are welcome to contribute more, if you can. Tickets will be available at the door at Club Caliente on the day of the event starting from 7:45 pm. After 11:00 pm, Caliente's regular cover fee will be in effect, but we will continue accepting donations. Just ask one of the organizers or Party Hosts and they will let you know how you can contribute. Red Cross forms for requesting donation receipts will be available on site from fundraiser organizers. Receipts will be mailed by the Red Cross after the event.

We are grateful to our sponsors for providing their generous support:

Club Caliente for providing their centrally located venue and sound equipment free-of-charge;

SalsaOlé Latin Dance School & Performances for contributing their time to perform at the event, for assisting with planning and also for hosting this event page on their server;

GoSalsa for offering a workshop as well as helping with graphic design for event materials and with event promotion;

PAZAPA Dance School for offering two performances as well as helping with event promotion;

Social group SalsaLoca (founded by Louis-Patrick Comeau) for spearheading and organizing this initiative;

SalsaFanatics, Rahim's Latin Fridays, Salsaria and Grupo de Baile Latino de H.O.L.A.S. of Carleton University, for assisting with publicity;