On Saturday, March 15, the community of Word International Ministries in Seattle put together a dinner dance fund raiser, dubbed Rhythm of the Night – Dance to Heal, to benefit the rebuilding efforts in the Tacloban, Leyte outskirts. Most everyone by now has heard of the devastation that typhoon Haiyan brought upon the Central region of the Philippines back in November. Much of the news focused on the rescue and disaster relief efforts given by the international community. But after 4 months, news of the disaster has all but disappeared from most of the world’s radar, even as the people of Leyte are just starting to rebuild from the ashes. And while the big cities receive lots of aid, the outskirts receive little to no help. It is in this task that WinSeattle has focused its efforts on. WIN centers in the outskirts of Leyte have been transformed into community centers, aid distribution centers and temporary shelters for all and funds raised in this activity will go towards assisting in those areas.
Tickets to the dinner/dance were pre-sold by members to their friends and families. Even before the evening began, proceeds from ticket sales and direct donations from generous patrons had already made a difference. But there was more fund raising to be done. Greeting the guests at the lobby was a photo booth where they had the option to get professional quality pictures taken for the price of a donation to the cause. Inside, the evening began with a sumptuous buffet dinner – the best in Filipino cuisine. While dining, guests also purchased raffle tickets for prizes ranging from dinner gift cards to vacation getaways.
They also started building up for the Dessert Dash (a game where guests place donations inside an envelope, one for each table; later on the tables are ranked against each other and the top tables get first dibs on the collection of desserts already displayed). After dinner, Pastor Vino made a short presentation to describe the cause and the progress that Word International Ministries was already making in the rebuilding efforts. He issued a challenge to everyone to keep themselves involved in the efforts still going on so that the people of Leyte are not forgotten.
As the Dessert Dash got underway, the excitement of sinking their teeth into their favorite sweets overtook the room and by the time it was over, each table had grabbed at least one of the 19 cakes. To burn off all that sugar, dancing quickly followed and went on until the end of the evening. Everyone swung to the beat of all types of music from ballroom to line dances to old classics and current hits. Guests and the church community had a good time and went home feeling great that they had fun giving to a good cause!
WIN Seattle would like to thank the businesses that donated cakes towards this evening’s Dessert Dash – without them, it would not have been successful. The business donors are:
- Cakes of Paradise – Renton
- Cheesecake Factory – Seattle
- Corina Bakery – Tacoma
- Ma Boulange Bakery – Federal Way
- Wonderworks Cakes – Federal Way
Several individuals also donated time and effort to practice their craft and make custom cakes for the occasion. We’d like to extend our thanks to them as well:
- Lei McLoughlin
- Pia Dizon
- Sharon Valenzuela
Each of the church members also made donations to the dessert dash through their small groups and through individual contributions. And of course, the whole event was planned, organized and executed through the work of volunteers within the church community. This is another event where the people of the community came together to do the Lord’s work, making His love real to the world – praying, connecting and serving.
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