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Foo dances between charitable causes

Richmond actor Colin Foo didn’t miss a beat last month as he travelled between two very different charitable endeavours.
Foo-Honduras
Colin Foo with one of the students at a school in Esperancita, Honduras where he has been helping fundraise to build a new facilities. Photo submitted

Richmond actor Colin Foo didn’t miss a beat last month as he travelled between two very different charitable endeavours.

In mid-January the former realtor was in Honduras to see first-hand the development of a secondary school in the small, impoverished mountain village of Esperancita.

And just over two weeks later he was back in the Lower Mainland, learning a dance routine to help raise funds for the Richmond Hospice at this Saturday’s Dancing with the Richmond Stars event.

While his travels meant losing out on some vital practice time for the hospice fundraiser, which collects pledges from the public for the competing pairs of dancers, Foo said the audience should be in for a free-form dance treat that breaks away from the traditional.

“We’re starting mostly with a Motown influence and ending with Michael Jackson’s Thriller,” said Foo, quickly adding he was spared from learning to moonwalk, but still aims to wow the crowd with some cool moves.

“We thought we’d end with a bang and be totally different from the others,” Foo said laughing. “They are all formal ballroom dances.”

Learning the routine has been a challenge, said Foo, especially with less time to get the steps down.

But he wouldn’t have traded the experience he had in Honduras where the need for a school for older children is vital.

“A friend of mine, Roger Clinton, had visited a few years ago, bought a property there and saw a need for a primary school,” Foo said. “And after he raised some money and built one, I saw what he’d accomplished and wanted to play a role, too.”

So, Foo and friends got together and raised about $20,000, enough to get building started on a small secondary school.

“All they had was a hut with no windows,” Foo said, adding the land for the new school has been cleared and the foundation is being laid.

Helping make a profound difference both in Honduras and here in Richmond is a special opportunity, Foo said.

“Put it this way, I went to Honduras and had a great time meeting the children of Esperancita, came home and I’m now having an equally wonderful time learning this dance routine to help such an important cause at the hospice,” Foo said.

To help support the Dancing with the Richmond Stars dance groups performing Saturday eveing at the Riverside Grand Ballroom, visit richmondhospice

association.com and click on the Dancing with the Richmond Stars 2015 section.

There, you can pledge funds to the dance pairs, and purchase tickets for the performance event, which includes a semi-formal dinner.