Legacy lives

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Concert raises 4K for children in India

Josh Dye
Public relations intern
Avondale College of Higher Education
Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia

The Contemporary Choir closed the Change Is Coming concert, which COSMOS dedicated to longtime supporter Charles Pointon. Credit: Kimberley Hodgkin.

Student mission club COSMOS called its fundraising concert Change Is Coming. The generous response means change is a little bit closer for the girls boarding at Tonea School in India.

The concert, held in Avondale College Seventh-day Adventist Church on Saturday (May 12), raised almost $4000. The money will help build a new girls’ dormitory. International poverty and development studies major Karli Borresen knows the difference it will make. “I visited Tonea last year and saw girls sleeping on the floor or sharing a bed with three others.”

Fourteen artists, including Francine Bell, Contemporary Choir, Melissa Otto, The Promise and Victory Street Gospel Choir, performed. The bill made it one of the biggest events COSMOS has organised, reports leader Krissie Hopkins.

COSMOS dedicated the concert to its longtime supporter, the late Charles Pointon. A newly framed painting of Charles will be displayed at Avondale in memory of his service to the college and the community.

Asian Aid Australia, which partners with Tonea, thanks COSMOS for giving hope to the children at Tonea. “Charles would have been proud of not only the money raised but also of the dedication and passion of young adults with a heart for mission and service,” says chief executive officer Richard Greenwell. “It’s good to see Charles’ legacy—of being a friend of children—lives on.”