Pub Owners Raise Fundraising Bar

By Lookout Staff

September 10 -- A group of local bars hopes to raise $100,000 to help victims of Katrina, which may have taken some 10,000 lives after plowing through the Gulf Coast last week.

The Campaign for Humanitarian EmErgency ReSponse, or CHEERS, composed of more than 40 Santa Monica and Westside Bars, hopes to top the $70,000 it raised in one week earlier this year to help relief efforts in the wake of the Asian Tsunami.

Restaurants and businesses helped out in the fundraising blitz, which included a variety of special events.

"CHEERS did so well in January that we now wish to surpass our previous total and help the victims of the devastating Hurricane Katrina by raising $100,000," said Terence Mulholland, organizer of CHEERS.

The group hopes to “once again bring our community together in an effort to help those in desperate circumstances,” said Mulholland, CEO of Beyond Home Theater, a Santa Monica based home theater installation company.

All proceeds of the bar's and restaurant's events will be donated directly to the American Red Cross and Salvation Army charities giving aid in the disaster areas, CHEERS officials said.

Other businesses have also joined in the effort by donating goods and services for raffle or auction and many employees have offered to donate tips and salary, the group’s leaders said.

"This disaster has hit a nerve with many people who have been looking for a way to help these victims and CHEERS aims to provide an avenue which is both fun and rewarding," said Paul Diskin, of O'Briens Bar on Main in Santa Monica.

Visit www.cheersweek.com for more information on event locations and dates or to join the fundraising initiative