SATURDAY SOIREE: Nkumu Katalay and his Life Long Project band will entertain on Saturday, October 21 at the Forrestal Marriott for the 13th annual Soiree of the United Front Against Riverblindness, which aims to defeat neglected tropical diseases in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

United Front Against Riverblindness (UFAR) invites the public to its 13th annual Soiree on Saturday, October 21 at 7 p.m. at the Forrestal Marriott, 100 College Road. UFAR’s mission is to improve the health and well-being of the Congolese people by defeating five targeted neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

“After 17 years of community-based mass drug distribution, UFAR is seeing substantial results,” said Dr. Daniel Shungu, founder and CEO of UFAR. “Some regions no longer require treatment for lymphatic filariasis (LF) also known as elephantiasis.”

The event will honor William I. Campbell, CEO and managing partner of Sanoch Management and founding board member and chair emeritus of the END Fund, which is committed to
ending NTDs. In 2001, together with his wife and daughters, he created The Campbell Family Foundation. In Campbell’s 10-year term leading the END Fund, the organization has brought treatment or preventative medicine for neglected tropical diseases to a billion people largely in Africa.

The evening includes a dinner of African and American dishes, plus entertainment by Nkumu Katalay & the Life Long Project Band. Katalay is a Congolese native who joins UFAR in the mission to improve the lives of those in the Congo. Tickets and sponsorships are available at ufar-ntds.org. For information, call Connie Kartoz, trustee and co-chair of the Soiree, at (609) 902-8703.