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Bands from Credit Valley and across the GTA
rocked the Vic Johnston Community Centre
in Streetsville for the first annual
"Battling Bands for Haiti" fundraiser.
The sold-out event raised close to $10,000
to support ongoing medical missions by Credit Valley
health-care professionals to earthquake-stricken Haiti.
Is anybody here excited to see this band?
We're getting ready to go.
Whatever disease you've got, we've got the cure.
Could we hire these people actually?
Ladies and gentlemen, The Remedies!
(Dr. Sameer Kumar) The idea behind this is well
over 30 health-care workers
at Credit Valley Hospital have had the privilege
of going over to Port-au-Prince, Haiti
since their devastating earthquake in January 2010.
(Shannon Tyrrell) It's costing
medical volunteers,
not only a week of their time, leave of absence without pay,
but also usually in excess of $1,000 in the flights,
accommodations, and incidental costs
and that's prohibitive if you're gonna return there,
as we all wish to do so on an annual basis
or even bi-annual basis.
So we thought we needed to put a fund-raising event together
to try and offset the costs, not just for ourselves,
but any future medical volunteers from Credit Valley.
(Dr. Sameer Kumar) I thought, wow, why don't we
get the best of all worlds,
have a battle of the bands?
Invite, you know, friends of mine from Sunnybrook Hospital,
from other non-hospital organizations.
The idea is if we can provide a good night of entertainment,
we can raise a certain amount of money for a cause
that we feel very strongly about.
The Stevie Ray Vaughan Experience!
Ryan and I have been asked to judge.
We've been given no criteria, so going on a fan response,
and dancing, and all those kind of things,
at the end of the night someone will come up the victor.
(Michelle DiEmanuele) When Dr. Kumar came
and spoke to me
about what the team had been doing, and the efforts,
I mean who can't be touched by the story?
I think it's always important that when you work
in a community, that you can always give back
to your community.
(Dr. Sameer Kumar) Less than 24 hours
after the earthquake,
Project Medishare had a hospital set up
and they basically set up wedding tents
and they needed volunteers.
Around May is when I went.
And after about 10 days, I had 9 fellow Credit Valley
people who came down.
We went 6 months after it initially happened.
Looking at all the devastation,
you would have thought it was a week ago.
(Shannon Tyrrell) Our mandate is not to just
keep putting a finger in a dam.
Our mandate is to build capacity
in the Haitian health-care system.
And how do we do that?
With every medical mission that goes,
the expectation is that we mentor
the Haitian medical professionals.
Everyone is reaching into their pockets
'cause they all know this is for a great cause.
(Dr. Sameer Kumar) I'm looking forward
to the entertainment.
In fact, I'm gonna be spending a lot of this evening
just watching other bands so I really can't tell you
who the winners are.
I can tell you there's a huge array of music,
and I think it's gonna be extremely entertaining.
(John Garbutt) No, they're doing a great job
and kudos to them.
They're really going out there,
a lot of Rolling Stones a lot of hard tracks,
and they're pulling them off pretty well.
(Shannon Tyrrell) Our next mission
is the last week of September
and then we have a second mission
going the week following that,
going into the first week in October.
And it will be the first time that a Credit Valley team
has ever handed off to another Credit Valley team.
(Dr. Sameer Kumar) Mixed emotions, but something
that I definitely want
to go back when I can.
We hope that they don't need us eventually.
That is what we would all like.
I think that is at least a few years away.
we can't have the success that we have.
So we want you to give yourselves a round of applause.
I would, in a heartbeat, do it again,
whether it's going to Haiti or anywhere else
to help out.
[audience applauding]
(John Garbutt) It's my pleasure to announce
that the 2011 Benefit for Haiti
Battle of the Bands winner is The Remedies!
On behalf of Ryan Parker and myself of Derringer
in the Morning Classic Rock Q107, we'll see ya next year.