Guyanese-Americans and South Asians from the greater Richmond Hill area of Queens organised a fundraising dinner for Democrat mayoral candidate Bill DeBlasio, an Italian-American. Some prominent Guyanese community leaders and elders turned out for the event.
The dinner banquet was held at the Guyanese-owned Dave Catering Hall in Richmond Hill. Organisers say close to US$175,000 was collected to help the candidate with his expenses for the campaign.
The candidate’s wife, Chirlane, graced the event with prominent Caribbean-American politician Una Clarke, who, along with community political leaders like Kawal Totaram, facilitated the event.
The amount of money raised is reportedly the largest sum collected by DeBlasio’s campaign since he launched his candidacy some six months ago.
There are a few Guyanese and other West Indians who work for, or serve as advisors for the campaign. Guyanese political analyst Vishnu Bisram is a registered volunteer and also mans phone banks for the campaign through the Teachers Union.
Chirlane DeBlasio and Una Clarke expressed their gratitude to the Richmond Hill community for raising the funds.
They assured Guyanese and others that they will not forget the community. With city-matching grants of six to one, as much as US$1 million could be granted to the campaign.
