A TOTAL $48, 478.70 was raised following a two hour spiritual concert hosted by the Betikama Adventist College (BAC), east of Honiara on Saturday night.
The concert was organised as part of a series of fundraising events to generate much needed funds to start the construction of a new school multi-purpose hall.
The concert was held at the college dinning hall due to unfavourable weather.
Many parents, guardians, friends, supporters, students, staff and former students turned up to witness and support the concert which was staged to coincide with the long Easter weekend break.
Minister of Education Tozen Leokana also graced the event along with other top government students who are former students of Betikama.
Food and drinks were also sold to the public that turned up to watch.
A good number youth singing groups from some of the Adventist churches in Honiara turned up to support the concert by singing a song each providing a variety of songs.
Betikama school choir also presented a number of songs.
The dinning hall was packed as everyone came together to listen to many inspiring and spiritually-blessed songs that left everyone excited and satisfied.
Towards the end of the program a special free-will offering was collected.
The total amount was announced after the completion of the concert much to the excitement of the students and staff.
One of the staff, Ezekiel Alfred said, its good to see many parents, guardians and supporters coming out to support.
He acknowledged the students for their commitment in preparing for the concert.
The school choir had been preparing for the concert by turning up each day for practise during the recent one week break.
During the recent one week break most of the students have been issued with colourthone paper as part of their fundraising effort. Each paper has 100 spots to colour.
School principal Bevan Tutuo on Saturday night was excited with the outcome of the concert and thanked everyone who turned up to support the event.
“The school is delighted for the support you have rendered to the school,” he said.
He said, the amount may increase once money collected from the sales of food and drinks are counted.
The project is expected to cost $200, 000.00 and the school is committed to raise more funds to allow work to proceed soon.
For years the school was without a proper hall to conduct its daily assembly and other general meetings.
The church is only used for worship.
Because of this most times, the students and staff normally would normally meet under the trees at the basketball court for assembly and awareness talks.
When its raining they use the dinning hall.
A group from from Australia have expressed their willingness to support the school after learning about the school’s need.
Because of this, Betikama has been tasked to prepare the concrete foundation and the overseas group will provide the steel structures.
A team from Australia will arrive in October this year to complete the task.
Betikama has been given until September to complete the ground works.
Under the chairmanship of Charles Sisimia, plans are underway to start the project soon.
The school is still appealing to former students and other organisations that are happy to support them with the project.
