Footscray fund-raising dinner blends great food and goodwill

Enjoying delicious African cuisine while helping children in need – it almost sounds too good to be true.

But next Tuesday, you’ll be able to do both at Footscray’s Kokeb Restaurant and Café.

The fund-raiser for Eritrean Australian Humanitarian Aid (EAHA) will be hosted by western suburbs food blogger Kenny Weir, of Consider The Sauce, and Kokeb’s Helen Isaac.

Formed in Melbourne in 2009, EAHA is a non-profit, non-political and volunteer-run association which helps Eritrean refugees.

Money raised by the dinner will help build a primary school at an Eritrean refugee camp in Sudan.

Eritrea, situated on the Horn of Africa between Ethiopia and Sudan, has been devastated by war and civil strife for nearly 50 years. Almost a million people have been uprooted internally or are seeking refuge in neighbouring countries.

Those who flee are often forced to live in deplorable, overcrowded conditions inside camps filled with makeshift tents and without water or sanitation, putting them at risk of infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and meningitis.

The fund-raiser is at Kokeb Restaurant and Café, 247 Barkly Street, Footscray, from 7.30-9.30pm on Tuesday, July 22.

Tickets are $30. For bookings, visit www.tinyurl.com/q3b2qsa

Kenny Weir is a Star Weekly employee.