Best Selling Author Visiting Kelowna for Refugee Fundraiser

The Central Okanagan Refugee Committee is bringing a New York Times bestselling author for a special fundraiser in Kelowna to help out new refugees.

Amanda Lindhout, an author, speaker, and journalist, will be speaking in Kelowna, Monday June 6^th.

Lindout’s multiple award-winning memoir, A House in the Sky, is the story of her time as an aspiring television war reporter in Iraq and Afghanistan and the 460 days she spent as a hostage in Somalia. The book has been on the Globe and Mail top ten list for over two years.

In 2015, Amanda visited over 25 countries as a keynote speaker at events as large as 16,000 audience members.

The evening will be a fundraiser for the various sponsorships in the Okanagan including private sponsorships, BVOR (Blended Visa Office Referral), and GAR (Government Assisted Refugees which support resettlement programs.

Kelowna welcomed their first Syrian family in May 2015.

By mid-March, 12 more families are expected, as well as additional families in Vernon, Penticton, West Kelowna, and Summerland.

Most recently, Kelowna was selected as a community to relocate the Syrian families that had been stranded in hotel rooms in Vancouver for weeks.

Tickets for the event are available online. Tickets purchased by March 31^st are offered at a discounted $30, and after April 1^st, tickets will go up to $35.