Media Advisory - Crazy for Cricket Gala Friday October 5 at the Delta Hotel, Scarborough

Valley Park Go Green Cricket Field Committee

Proceeds will go to the Valley Park Community Revitalization Project to build a sustainable multi-sport Cricket Facility for Kids in the Thorncliffe Park and Flemingdon Park Neighbourhoods

TORONTO, Oct. 4, 2012 /CNW/ - Hosted by Nabil Karim of The Sports Network (TSN) and The Valley Park Go Green Cricket Field in partnership with Toronto Police Service and Greenwin Inc., the Crazy for Cricket Gala will be held Friday, October 5 at 6:30 pm at the Delta Hotel Scarborough. The event will feature comedian Sugar Sammy, who has been named one of the top ten rising comedy talents in the world.

Sugar Sammy will entertain guests at the Gala with his cleverly entertaining performance, drawing on everything from arranged Indian marriages in his own Indian ancestry to his views on sex, drugs, and modern day relationships. Sugar Sammy has opened for comics Dave Chappelle and worked with George Lopez and Damon Wayans.

"It's wonderful to get a chance to celebrate the start of Phase One construction. Our tender is now underway after 1 ½ years of hard work by a grassroots group of local volunteers.  We are looking forward to thanking our partners and donors who have got us to this point." says Lisa Grogan- Green, Co-Chair, Valley Park Go Green Cricket Field Project.

The proceeds from The Crazy for Cricket Gala will help to build a sustainable Multi-Sport Cricket Facility for kids in the priority neighbourhoods of Flemingdon Park and Thorncliffe Park. The goal of the evening is to reach the $1.1 million Phase One fundraising campaign. A special guest speaker will be Toronto Police Services Board chair Dr. Alok Mukherjee and guests include MPP Kathleen Wynne Don Valley West, MPP Soo Wong Scarborough-Agincourt, Councillor John Parker and Trustee Gerri Gershon.

Tickets are $125 per person, or $100 per person for a table of 8 or a table of 10. Tickets can be purchased online directly through the project website at www.gogreencricketfield.ca or through www.mybindi.com/crazyforcricket or by contacting Lisa Grogan-Green at 647-388-3200 or email at [email protected] to pay by cash or by cheque.

About the Valley Park Go Green Cricket Field Project
In partnership with Toronto District School Board, Flemingdon Neighbourhood Services, Thorncliffe Neighbourhood Office, and Toronto & Region Conservation Authority, the grassroots Valley Park Revitalization team is building a sustainable multi-sport cricket field for youth in the backyard of Canada's largest middle school Valley Park Middle School and newly licensed adjacent Hydro lands. The field will be irrigated with recaptured rainwater and surrounded by a red clay running track, an amphitheater, a bioswale, wetland, butterfly meadow and community-planted urban forest. It will bring the beauty of the adjacent Don River Valley up to this community's doorstep and create a picnic ground for families.

The neighbourhood is composed of a large community of South Asian residents for whom cricket is a passion. The building of this cricket field will enable new immigrant students to stay connected with an important sport in their country of origin and for Canadians to further learn about it. Our cricket field addresses an urgent need in the Greater Toronto Area for well-maintained hardball cricket fields. More than 80 TDSB schools have field cricket teams currently in the GTA reflecting cricket's rising popularity as Canada's fastest-growing sport.

For more information visit:  www.gogreencricketfield.ca

Image with caption: "Come laugh with cops, coaches, teachers and other sports fans to help build our Multi-sport Cricket Facility for kids in the Priority Neighborhoods of Flemingdon Park and Thorncliffe Park! Laugh for cricket and cap our Phase One fundraising activities. Construction starts this month! (CNW Group/Valley Park Go Green Cricket Field Committee)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20121004_C4485_PHOTO_EN_18922.jpg

SOURCE: Valley Park Go Green Cricket Field Committee

Lisa Grogan-Green, Project co-chair, 647-388-3200
Nickolas Stefanoff, Project co-chair and VPMS Principal, 416-949-4130.

Media contact:  Deborah Knight, Publicist, dkpr public relations inc. [email protected] 416-200-3577.