For more than half of her life, Surrey teen Sia Sidhu has been raising money for , with close to $32,000 already collected for hospital units there.

The 13-year-old aims to add thousands of dollars to that total this summer/fall with a raffle that involves prizes donated by a growing number of corporate sponsors on 鈥淭eam Sia.鈥�

Sia started on her fundraising journey as a six-year-old. Over the years she has sold hot dogs, burgers, ice cream and more from a table set up on the driveway of her family鈥檚 Panorama Ridge-area home, in Surrey.

鈥淚t鈥檚 something I like to do,鈥� she said, 鈥渁nd I don鈥檛 want to stop now.鈥�

鈥� RELATED STORY, from 2019: .

Last year鈥檚 virtual fundraiser raised close to $15,000 for the hospital鈥檚 pediatric intensive-care unit, and the oncology department is the focus of this year鈥檚 raffle, which is Sia鈥檚 seventh-annual fundraiser.

Ticket sales start Friday, Sept. 3, via email sent to siafund2020@gmail.com, with one ticket priced at $20, three for $50, and seven for $100. The live-streamed prize draws will take place Sept. 26 starting at 2 p.m.

鈥淣ext year it鈥檚 my plan to keep going with events again, like the ones we were doing before,鈥� explained Sia, who鈥檚 now in Grade 8 at Panorama Ridge Secondary.

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For this month鈥檚 raffle, with the help of her parents, she鈥檚 been busy requesting and collecting 60-plus prize donations that include four vacation packages.

鈥淲e鈥檙e able to support her by driving around but we encourage her to do most of the conversation and the communication for this,鈥� said Eka Sidhu, Sia鈥檚 mother.

鈥淛ust in a week she was able to reach out to companies and gather all of these prizes for the raffle,鈥� Eka added. 鈥淧eople are starting to recognize her name from some of the awards and .鈥�

In 2020, as an 11-year-old, Sia鈥檚 鈥淏urger Shack鈥� fundraiser resulted in her becoming . 鈥淪he uses her savings for marketing collaterals and event supplies,鈥� an awards bio noted. 鈥淪ia plans to follow a career path in broadcasting or politics in the future.鈥�

So far, 鈥淭eam Sia鈥� fundraising partners have included East To West Group of Companies, Radiant Dental, LiUNA Local 1611 (Laborers鈥� International Union of North America), People鈥檚 Group, Pacific Real Estate (Sidra Subzwari), Uniglobe Printers, Save on Foods, and more.

鈥淢any vendors/businesses and companies have joined hands with Sia to make this year鈥檚 event successful,鈥� says a post about the raffle on Eka Sidhu鈥檚 Facebook page.

鈥淗er goal as every year to help as many children that are in medical distress,鈥� the post explains. 鈥淭his year her giving back to children (who) have cancer. We are hoping to reach out to many possible social media or marketing outlets to spread the word to sell tickets so Sia can raise as much money as possible for those children (who) are undergoing cancer treatment.

鈥淪ia has been working extremely hard to bring you this year鈥檚 event.鈥�

tom.zillich@surreynowleader.com
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