While their registration link said it was “sold out” for 350 diners to the free event last Tuesday, at least 500 people showed up to honor and donate to the Sonoma Sherpa Club’s fundraiser to help flood victims in Nepal. Generous donors gave more than $100,000 to help those suffering, and the families of thousands of people lost.
In the scores of fundraisers I have attended or helped organize, this was one of the best presentations I have seen. Videos played during the wine and appetizer hour, a Head Llama led prayers taught and sung by Nepalese women (many of whom we see working very hard all around Sonoma) and who dressed for the evening in their formal native outfits. They sang both the Nepal and U.S. national anthems, followed by a fabulous video, by local resident Sonam Jangbu Sherpa, of the horrible flood itself. The video left everyone staring straight ahead or weeping. And there were speeches by event coordinator Christian Dupree, Sonoma Mayor Ron Wallander, and California Sherpa Association president Gombu Sherpa. Nawang Phingo Sherpa emceed the event.
The theme for the evening was, “From the Heart of Sonoma to the Peaks of Nepal,” which aptly described the crowd’s emotions. Among the memorable translated quotes, “Once we see ourselves, no one is seen as others.”…