Light Up Papua New Guinea fundraiser November 7

Musicians Lennie Gallant, Richard Wood, Michelle Wright and friends will donate their performances in a concert on November 7 for Light Up Papua New Guinea, a project to honour Captain Nichola Goddard who was killed in 2006 in Afghanistan while serving with the Canadian Forces.

Nichola's parents, UPEI's Dean of Education Tim Goddard and Sally Goddard, will attend the event. Nichola was born in Papua New Guinea when her parents were CUSO teachers there. The Light Up Papua New Guinea project brings solar lights to rural first aid posts and birthing centres in Papua New Guinea.

A dinner preceding the concert will feature a keynote address by CTV News journalist Lisa LaFlamme who was imbedded with Nichola's battalion in the weeks preceding her death. One of Canada's top journalists, LaFlamme regularly unravels complicated political events and national issues for viewers. She covered the inauguration of President Barack Obama in January 2009 and the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympic Games. In 2007 she examined two of the biggest legal cases in North America: the murder trial of Robert Pickton and the fraud trial of Conrad Black.

True to her hard news journalism roots, LaFlamme has made multiple trips to Iraq and Afghanistan to cover ongoing military activity. Outisde of broadcasting, she avidly supports Plan International, formerly known as Foster Parents Plan. Traveling to remote areas for the last several years, she highlights child poverty throughout the world.

The concert will begin at 8 p.m. at the Chi-Wan Young Sports Centre at UPEI. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased online at www.themontgomerytheatre.com

The dinner will start at 5 p.m. with a reception in the W.A. Murphy Centre's McMillan Hall at UPEI. Tickets are $125 which includes dinner, the concert, commemorative t-shirt and a post-concert reception. Cheques can be made out and sent to Light Up Papua New Guinea, c/o 45 Parkside Drive, Charlottetown, PE, C1E 1N1. Call (902) 569-5665 to purchase dinner tickets or for further information.

Tickets for the dinner and the concert may also be purchased from Kate Graham, UPEI Department of Education, at (902) 566-0731 or kegraham@upei.ca.

For further information, contact Sue Platts at suesue00118@hotmail.com or www.nicholagoddard.com