An Aucklander’s penchant for charity has helped raise money for Fred Hollows Foundation of New Zealand.
Vina Dhana packed her melodious voice into an Album titled, ‘Tere Sur Aur Mere Geet’ (meaning, ‘Your Tune and My Song’) and decided to donate all the sales proceeds for the Foundation’s New Zealand office that works to eliminate avoidable blindness in people of the Pacific region.
The Album comprises a selection of songs originally sung by legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar in the 1960s.
Mrs Dhana said she chose the Fred Hollows Foundation because her son Jason is an optometrist, serving the same cause.
The demand for the Album keeps soaring and has thus far mobilised $1200.
She was delighted to present a cheque representing the amount to Debbie Thomson, Marketing and Fundraising Director of the Foundation at a function held in Auckland recently.
Mrs Dhana regularly performs at concerts, competitions and charity dinners.
Inspired by the life and work of Professor Fred Hallows, an eye surgeon who dedicated his life advocating ‘the right to sight for all,’ the Foundation was established on September 3, 1992 in Sydney, Australia, just five months before his death. A year later, the Foundation opened its office in New Zealand.
According to its official website, the Foundation has restored the sight of more than one million people around the world since its establishment.
“In many cases, all it took was a simple, 20-minute operation costing as little as $25. In the last five years alone, the Foundation has also trained more than 30,000 eye- health workers,” it said.
Mrs Dana said that a team of specialists and others were in Fiji recently to perform cataract operations.
For more details about the Foundation and to make donations, call 0800-227229.
Photo :Vina Dhana (right) presenting a cheque to Debbie Thomson at the Fred Hollows Foundation
