Calgary chefs dish up dinner to fundraise for family of man killed at C-Train station

"Heartbroken" by the senseless death of Nicholas Nwonye, three Calgary chefs hosted a five-course, fundraising dinner Wednesday to help his widow and three young children.

Nwonye, 46, was randomly stabbed on June 2 at the City Hall C-Train platform, just eighteen months after leaving his engineering job in Nigeria to forge a better life in Canada.

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"Heartbroken by storieslike this, we're notalwayssure if there is anything we can do to help so we cook," reads the eventwebsite.

"It really hits home for me," saidDuncan Ly, chef and owner of Foreign Concept, where the dinner was hosted.

"My family immigrated to Canada 30 years ago in search of a better life," Ly said. "We can't imagine not having my father around while we were growing up."

Ly said he reached out to twoof his chef friends in the city, Darren MacLean of Shokunin and Kaede Hirooka of Vintage Chophouse. "Before I could even finish telling them this story, they were like, 'We're in. Let's do it.'"

'Tremendous' support

The Asian-inspired menu incorporated elements of Japanese, Vietnameseand Chinese cuisine and cost$100 per person, with all proceeds going to the Nwonye family.

Local chefs cook up dinner to show Nwonye family that Calgary cares

7 years ago

Duration 0:41

"Heartbroken" by the senseless death of Nicholas Nwonye, three Calgary chefs hosted a five-course, fundraising dinner Wednesday to raise money for his widow and three young children.

But it's not just abouthelping the family financially, Ly said.

"It's also the act of doing something. I think it's bringing community together, letting people know that it matters, and we do care," Ly said.

Ly called the response "tremendous," adding that he considers himself lucky to live in a city with such a strong sense of community.

"That's what I love about Calgary," said Ly.

Other community initiatives to support the Nwonye family include aGoFundMe campaign organized by Nwonye's practical nurse classmates at Bow Valley College, which has to date raised more than $90,000 of it's $150,000 goal.

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