Elvis impersonator Gino Monopoli took to the stage at Element as part of a fundraiser for Habitat for Humanity on Feb. 10. The evening also featured a live and silent auction with memorabilia such as an autographed jersey from Gordie Howe and an autographed picture of Justin Bieber.
In addition, a cheque was presented from Teck to Habitat for Humanity for $20,000. The donation allowed Teck to become a platinum sponsor, joining Kootenay Savings Credit Union, and the City of Castlegar, which donated the land.
“I think everyone there had a great time,” said Habitat for Humanity board member Mark Allarie. “We had over 200 people show up. The live auction went extremely well. We ended up making a little bit of a profit off that. We don’t have a firm number yet for how much we made. It was roughly a $2,000 profit. We were very pleased with how things went.”
Allarie said the event was great for getting the word out about the foundation. “Lots of people who didn’t necessarily know anything about Habitat got out there and got involved and started to get excited about our cause which is really good,” he said. “I had a lot of people stop me after the event saying we should do it again next year because they had so much fun. Especially all the women - they were absolutely in love with Elvis.”
Monopoli’s performance as the legendary king of rock ‘n roll was received very well. He performed most of the king’s big hits including “Viva Las Vegas”, “Heartbreak Hotel”, and “All Shook Up”.
Not only was Monopoli’s voice bang on, but he had the mannerisms of Elvis down pat from the hip shake to the lip curl. The only things missing were the peanut butter and fried banana sandwiches.
“There were a lot of screaming women there,” said Allarie. “I think everyone liked him. He was a blast. He was great afterwards too, signing autographs and posing for pictures with everyone.”
Habitat for Humanity is an international organization that builds affordable housing and promotes home ownership as a means to ending the cycle of poverty.
“What we do is we go through a process of selecting a family that is on the verge of becoming successful and we help them become successful,” said Allarie. “We take a family that can’t necessarily make a down payment on a home and instead of having to make a down payment they do several hundred hours worth of community service. Then they pay off the mortgage with us at zero per cent.”
Currently, Habitat for Humanity West Kootenay has two homes in Nelson, one of which is a duplex. The organization is building their first house in Castlegar behind Kootenay Market.
“In early December we got it to lock-up,” said Allarie.
“It was great because the Selkirk College students volunteered their time for the framing and the foundation. They got some experience and we got the push from them to get the house to lock-up. Last week, Selkirk electrical students just started all the electrical work. They got all the components we needed donated. That was great for us because every penny helps when you’re trying to build a house for a family.”
The new house still has some work to go with plumbing, fixtures, and electricity all to be added.
“We don’t have an estimated finish date yet,” said Allarie. “We’re hoping late April. But that’s very tentative. When everyone’s volunteering their time so sometimes our dates get pushed back, especially when you’re waiting for an expert to come in and do something.”
Allarie points out that everyone has been very helpful with the project. “We’ve basically had all the labour donated so far and the majority of the materials,” he said. “It’s really been helpful to us as a not for profit to get that up and going.”