In the works for weeks, the Chinatown Craft Market set for Oct. 25 transformed last minute into a fundraiser for local residents and businesses displaced by a serious fire at Somerset and Percy streets just four days prior.
Participants of the craft event on Somerset Street amended their plans and added a charitable component when organizer Don Kwan, owner of Shanghai restaurant, recognized an opportunity to lend a helping hand.
The market is a local initiative that brings the community together, he says.
“I can’t imagine losing a business. It’s left a gap in the community,” says Kwan. “When something’s gone you appreciate it more.”
When news of the fire spread, Kwan reached out to local artists who were willing to donate some of their work for an auction to raise funds for those affected by the fire.
The market ran from noon until 4 p.m. and the auction raised $165 in community support.
Kwan says the money will be added to the GoFundMe crowd-funding platform created by Ron Couchman, another local business owner who is helping to assist those affected by the fire.
“The funds will be split based on demonstrated need between the businesses and residents who suffered a loss from this tragedy,” Couchman said in an online statement.
Five local vendors set up their tents outside the Shanghai restaurant to sell their work and the auction was held inside.
Centretown resident Nicole Beaumont donated $60.
Beaumont has lived in the neighbourhood for nearly 10 years and says she recalls when the Daily Grind, one of the businesses destroyed by the fire, opened its doors.
“Events like this bring us together. The businesses in Chinatown are all connected…we take care of each other and we have fun,” she said.
Eliza von Baeyer of Indie Go Designs has been a vendor at the Chinatown Craft Market for two years.
“It’s a great community. Lots of people check out the sale because it’s hand-made. That’s what attracts people to it and this community is good at supporting local makers and crafters,” she says.
Baeyer uses recycled materials from second-hand stores and puts them together in a more modern way.
Her main focus is map pendants and jewelry.
Other vendors sold items from lip balm and candles to baked goods and purses decorated with licence plates.
Kwan says a few pieces of local artwork remained after the auction was over and he is hoping to use them at another fundraiser around town to raise more money for the same cause.