BC raises . )25 S.MCH in Surrey
On Oct 14th, the BC Chapter of Shaukat Khanam Memorial Cancer Hospital arranged a fund-raising gala dinner at Taj Park Convention Centre in Surrey. Among the organizers were including Saif Pannu, Hamza Malik, Waseem Javeed, Adeel Haider, Ahmar Kazi, and friends . Mr. Raza Mirani and Zeeshan Ahmed were the masters of ceremony. The program began with the recitation of Holy Quran by Dawood Rai. Mr. Saif Pannu then welcomed the guests. Due to Civic elections, they invited many honorable politicians, and Surrey Mayoral Candidates Tom Gill, Doug McCallum and City Councillors candidates to introduce themselves. After their speeches Mr. Pannu requested guest speaker, Dr. Faisal Sultan, CEO of SKMH who had specially came from Pakistan for this fundrasier. Dr. Sultan has been part of Shaukat Khanum from its early days. He explained the beginning of the hospital and the tireless efforts of current PM of Pakistan and Former Captain of Pakistan Cricket Team. The hospital is named after the mother of Imran Khan, who died after battling cancer. Since its inauguration on 29 December 1994, two research-oriented tertiary level oncology hospitals have been built in Lahore and Peshawar in Pakistan and construction is underway for the third one in Karachi. The Lahore hospital is Pakistan’s largest cancer hospital and it’s home to the largest radiation oncology centre. The second hospital was inaugurated on 29 December 2015 by a cancer patient in Peshawar. Dr. Sultan eloquently described how none of the patients are treated for free. Rather, an advance payment has been made on their behalf by donors like those in the audience. He shared details of the hospital’s accomplishments and future projects and emphasized on the importance of donations. A short auction was also held to assist in fundraising which included a bat and some cricket balls signed by Imran Khan. At the end of the event, $62, 000 were raised. After dinner, the guests had the enjoyed a beautiful musical performance by Aima Baig who has appeared on Mazakarat Dunya TV Show and Coke Studio.