By Bianca Fortis
A Rockaway resident is organizing a fund-raiser that will benefit Team Rubicon and its efforts to aid and rebuild in the Philippines, after a typhoon killed more than 5,000 people in the southeast Asian nation.
Team Rubicon, founded in January 2010, is a disaster relief organization comprised of former military men and women. They have played an integral role in helping communities to rebuild after Hurricane Sandy. A few weeks ago some of the vets were in Belle Harbor working to repair homes damaged in the storm.
Dan Brown, the organizer, said he and other Rockaway residents want to help Team Rubicon after the group helped them in the aftermath of Sandy.
The fund-raiser will be Dec. 1 and hosted at Thai Rock, at 375 Beach 92nd St. in Rockaway Beach, at 2 p.m.
Donations will be collected throughout the venue.
All monetary donations will go directly to Team Rubicon, Brown said. The funds will be used to support the team’s plans to conduct a medical search-and-rescue mission in the Philippines.
Food and hygiene supplies will be collected for the Afya Foundation, which provides disaster supplies to developing countries.
The fund-raiser will feature several local bands, including Alive ‘n’ Kickin — a 1970s band — Button Down Runner and Solshyne. All the music groups are local to Queens.
The bands will play from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m, Brown said. Then there will be a screening of Brown’s feature-length documentary “John Cori Warned You,” about Sandy’s impact on the Rockaways. Afterward, the bands will play again.
“Here we are with the chance to help somebody else,” Brown said. “When Sandy happened it was the first many of us learned about Team Rubicon.”
He said many Rockaway residents have become politically active and socially conscious since the storm and want to remain involved with relief efforts around the country and the world.
Brown emphasized that the event is for all ages.
“It’s family-friendly,” he said. “People can come out and have dinner. They’re invited to come out and have a good time with us and raise money for a very worthy cause.”
More information about Team Rubicon is available at teamrubiconusa.org.
Reach reporter Bianca Fortis by email at bfortis@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4546.
