After volunteering with the Starfish Foundation on the Greek island of Lesvos, Sydney-based aged care worker Penny Koutras was set on finding a way to continue helping from afar.

Last year she managed to crowdfund over $2,000 worth of donations for the organisation, but this time she’s taking it one step further with a large-scale event.

Set to take place at The Factory Theatre, the fundraiser will be a chance for attendees to celebrate the work of the late Prince and David Bowie, while helping to raise invaluable funds for charities both in Greece and Down Under.

Proceeds raised on the night will be donated to the Starfish Foundation and Street Buffet, a local charity helping to feed Sydney’s homeless.

“I have both personal and overarching reasons for choosing these charities,” Ms Koutras told Neos Kosmos.

“Starfish Foundation was spearheaded by an ex-pat Australian, which I felt would make for a more relatable story to locals,” she says, while Street Buffet is a worthy cause helping those closer to home.
“Too often the response to requests for overseas aid is ‘but what about the people in our own backyard?’, and I wanted to illustrate that the two aren’t mutually exclusive.”

Having witnessed the unfolding of the refugee crisis first-hand, the aged care worker hopes her fellow Greek Australians can step up and illustrate the concept of filoxenia, as the Greeks have done during their own time of crisis.

“We’re a shared humanity, regardless of race, or place, or religion, or lack thereof. We all bleed red, and the less blood shed the better.
“If individually we’re unable to effect change at the source by preventing the wars that create this chaos, then at least we can help mitigate their after-effects,” adds Ms Koutras.

Taking attendees through Bowie and Prince’s back catalogues will be music director of 2SER Andrew Khedoori.

“If we can have a night that celebrates both David Bowie and Prince, two very different but hugely influential and much-loved artists, then we can also raise money for two very different but worthy charities, one local and one abroad.”

The Prince & Bowie Tribute Party fundraiser will take place on Friday 10 June at The Factory Theatre, 105 Victoria Road, Marrickville, NSW at 8.00 pm. This is a ticketed event. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.factorytheatre.com.au/events/2016/06/10/prince-bowie-tribute-party or www.facebook.com/events/1688577974728744/