COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE
	TO:	Mayor and Members of Council
	FROM:	Andy Taylor, Commissioner, Corporate Services
	PREPARED BY:	Fred Rich, Business Analyst
	DATE OF MEETING:	March 8,2005
	SUBJECT:	Tsunami Benefit Dinner

RECOMMENDATION:

THAT the report dated March 8,2005 entitled “Tsunami Benefit Dinner” be received;

AND THAT staff be authorized to partner with Unique Catering for a benefit dinner on April 23,2005 in support of the Tsunami relief for the St. Joseph’s Girls Home in the town of Trincomalee, Sri Lanka.

AND FURTHER THAT the costs incurred for providing facilities be contained within the existing Town operating budget.

PURPOSE:

To help organize a benefit dinner to raise funds for the St. Joseph’s Girls Home to offset their increased operating costs resulting from the Tsunami on December 26, 2004.

BACKGROUND:

Unique Catering has been providing catering services to the Town for over 7 years and as such has developed a good working relationship with the Corporation. In response to the devastation on December 26, 2004 to the Sri Lanka area, Unique catering has approached the Town to partner with them in an effort to provide relief to the St. Joseph’s Girls Home. The St. Joseph’s Girls Home is run by Apostolic Carmelite Nuns and is attempting to provide care to some of the nearly 800 orphaned children in North East Sri Lanka.

This partnership will consist of the Town providing the Thornhill Community Centre halls, the use of the kitchen facilities, and the related Town staffing cost of operating the facility, to host the dinner. In addition the Town would cover the entertainment costs for the evening up to a value of $1,500. To complement the Town’s participation, Unique Catering will supply approximately $10,000 in food costs for the evening and necessary wait staff.

The event will host 500 people at a ticket cost of $75 per person. The Town and Unique Catering will each be responsible for selling as many as 250 tickets to employees and members of the community.

Should all the tickets be sold, net proceeds will be $37,500 through tickets sales not including the profit from the cash bar or any other fund raising activate during the evening.

The event will be promoted through the Markham Town Page, the Town website, internal bulletin boards, and the Intranet at no additional cost to the organization. Unique Catering will also promote the event in the community, on their website as well as on-site in the cafeteria.

FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS:

The total value of the Town’s contributions to the event is summarized below.

	Services In lieu	Cost
Hall Rental for 500 people	1,008	-
Socan fee		123
Party Alcohol Liability Insurance		145
Liquor License		75
Entertainment Cost		1,500
Total Cost to the Town		$ 1,843
Total Value of Town Contributions		$ 2,851

BUSINESS UNITS CONSULTED AND AFFECTED:

The Community & Fire Services and Corporate Services Commissions are working together to organize this event.

ATTACHMENTS:

Letter dated March 3, 2005 from Unique Catering requesting the Town’s support for the benefit.

Barb Cribbett, Treasurer

Andy Taylor, Commissioner of Corporate Services

F:\Finance and Administration\Finance\SHARED\2005COW Council\0504 Tsunami Benefit rev1.doc