A fund-raising concert for the September 2009 tsunami in Samoa will be held at the First Congregational Church in downtown Bellevue on Sunday, Feb. 21 at 3 p.m. There is no price for admission though a donation is suggested.

The concert will consist of traditional Samoan song and dance and will be performed entirely by members from the First Samoan Congregational Church in Tacoma. The concert will be followed by a reception with free refreshments and desserts.

The 2009 September tsunami, which followed an 8.1 magnitude earthquake, devastated the islands making up American Samoa and Samoa, destroying multiple villages on the islands. Along with loss of human life, the tsunami also inflicted sizable damage to the countries’ transportation infrastructures, isolating villages from the main cities.

Originally the concert had been slated to raise money solely to help victims of the Samoan tsunami. The money would have gone to the First Samoan Congregational church and then from there the church would relay the money to relief organizations in Samoa. However, on Christmas, the First Samoan Congregational Church burned down.

As a result, although all the proceeds from the concert will still go to the First Samoan Congregational Church, half will now be diverted to help with rebuilding the church itself and the other half will still be used for disaster relief in Samoa.

In order to help relief efforts in the islands First Congregational Church’s Outreach Commission, which organizes the church’s donation and charity efforts, cooperated with the First Samoan Congregational Church (both churches are affiliated with the United Church of Christ).

Peter Lin, the Outreach Commission’s ad hoc Task Force chair, spoke about the idea of bringing a concert based on Samoan traditions to the First Congregational Church in Bellevue. A natural extension of the performances held regularly at the Samoan church, this event will be a new type of concert for the Bellevue church. Lin stated, “We’ve been giving money, but this time it’s unique.”

The concert was postponed twice, once because of scheduling conflicts with Christmas celebrations and once because the First Samoan Congregational Church burned down. Originally scheduled to be in November, the concert was eventually pushed back three months to its present date of Feb. 21.

In light of the new Haitian earthquake, the church is holding separate donation efforts to aid the Haitian earthquake. However, the money garnered from this concert will go entirely to relief efforts in Samoa as well as efforts to rebuild the First Samoan Congregational Church in Tacoma.

Lin emphasized the long-term nature of any relief effort and called for continued consideration for the situation in Samoa, saying “Rebuilding is not a one time job; it’s continuous, so let’s do it!”