Image Credit: FACEBOOK/Papa Thom
May 17, 2020 - 12:45 PM
An Okanagan city councillor/musician has raised more than $3,000 for Canadian food banks by live-streaming his performances each week.
Keith Thom, Peachland councillor, goes by his stage name Papa Thom, and he’s streaming live-performances since he can't hold many concerts due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he said.
He’s had people watching from as far as Istanbul, Turkey, he said, with as many as 400 people watching his fundraisers at one time.
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"I, like many people, are feeling a bit of cabin fever, it’s nice to sit on the screen and watch something new,” he said, adding that you can old re-watch so many episodes of Seinfeld before going stir crazy, so the live-streams are a nice change of pace.
The most heartwarming message he’s received so far was a private message was from a woman thanking him after he told food bank users to hold their heads up high, encouraging them not to be ashamed that they need the food bank during these challenging times, he said.
As Thom’s wife is a nurse, she’s able to provide for them, but if he was on his own he’d likely be using the food bank as his businesses have been shut down due to the pandemic, he said.
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So far, more than $3,000 has been raised, and that's just from people who have been telling him about their donations, he said, adding that there's likely more who remain anonymous.
Tune in tonight, as Thom will be broadcasting live from the Yukon at 5 p.m. on his Facebook page. He's currently with his daughter up north.
Thom asks that viewers donate to Canada Helps or Food Banks Canada.
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