The Royals Masquerade and Toy Drive celebrates business, background and helping East County kids

It has been only ten months since the San Diego East County Chaldean American Chamber of Commerce made its debut in East County, now inclusive with 304 members. Day by day the organization grows, and on Sept.19, the Chamber held its first The Royals Masquerade Ball and Toy Drive at the Riverwalk Golf Resort in Mission Valley.

Many local businesses sponsored the event, with the Salvation Army at the forefront, collecting toys to be donated during the upcoming holiday season.

It has been only ten months since the San Diego East County Chaldean American Chamber of Commerce made its debut in East County, now inclusive with 304 members. Day by day the organization grows, and on Sept.19, the Chamber held its first The Royals Masquerade Ball and Toy Drive at the Riverwalk Golf Resort in Mission Valley.

Many local businesses sponsored the event, with the Salvation Army at the forefront, collecting toys to be donated during the upcoming holiday season.

“It’s a lot of work. We enjoy what we do, we are grateful for the partnerships that we have with both Chambers, the East County as well as the Chaldean American Chamber. We serve a significant number of people from all over the world,” said Captain Terry Masango, Corps Office and Pastor of The Salvation Army in East County. Masango is from Zimbabwe. He has been in the United States for fifteen years and in San Diego for four years. “I love San Diego, especially the weather. It’s just like home.”

The Chamber hit the ground running with successful events such as The Royals Ball and Toy Drive, but also notably, the Miss Middle East Beauty Pageant this past spring. With the Royals Ball and Toy Drive now behind her, Jessica Kalasho, wife of Chamber President Ben Kalasho, is focusing on the Chamber’s next event, their Anniversary Gala in November.

“Our sponsors have been amazing, everyone contributed. Ben starting the Chamber was great. I’m very proud of him. My job is to make sure that we have the sponsors, make sure that other events are going smoothly. Being inclusive instead of exclusive. Our Miss Middle Eastern Pageant was fun, to unite people of different ethnicities, empower women and give out scholarships,” said Jessica Kalasho.

The inclusive instead of exclusive membership and uniting approach is more than a philosophy, it’s a way of business for the Chaldean American Chamber of Commerce. The Board has only five Chaldeans, the rest are of different ethnicities. Diversity is important to the success of the Chamber, said Ben Kalasho. Diversity and the fact that the Chamber’s Board members, who have established, rewarding professional lives outside of the Chamber, have no need to push personal agendas. The collective goal of the Chaldean American Chamber is to better the community by bringing businesses together. 

The Royals Ball and Toy Drive had impressive entertainment—an amazing contortionist, a “Phantom of the Opera” performance, and two pythons, with which guests held and posed with on the Red Carpet. Also a strong presence at the ball was the high fashions of San Diego’s premier designer Andre Soriano.

The night was another valuable step toward a solid future for the Chaldean American Chamber.

“It’s going to get bigger. Besides having mixers every month, we’ve really taken off.” said Ben Kalasho. “It’s all owed to the inclusiveness of the board. It’s all about the synergy they bring in and the connections we all have. We’re bringing new fresh ideas, like this ball. No one else does this and the Miss Middle Eastern Pageant, that was so big that the Miss California pageant was reaching out to us. We’re trying to deliver and we’re working with the Salvation Army, putting a smile on people’s faces. Masquerade is always cool.“

Cool indeed, but running a Chamber is a lot of work, especially when you are trying to nurture greater numbers, as well as help people in another country. There are Chamber members with family in Iraq.

“No lie, an average day for me will consist of a minimum of one hundred e-mails and a minimum of two hundred calls, not to mention texts and so on,” said Ben Kalasho. “We’re finding ourselves needing even more to connect and bridge some gaps so we’re working with other organizations to try and create a new province in Iraq. We’re working on grandiose, huge things. Creating a new province in a place like Iraq for Christians and other minorities hasn’t happened in over a hundred years.  And we’re really close to achieving that, actually. We work with the local governments here but I think in five years, this Chamber is going to reach like 5,000 members. We already have our own television channel. It’s on satellite. We’re going to be broadcasting from El Cajon but it’s going to cover local national and international news.”

Commerce and community are so intricately dependent on each other and in East County, and as they continue to evolve together, the inclusiveness the Kalashos described seems imminent and beneficial.

“We’re just a group of doers. No one is looking for any gain,” said Ben Kalasho. “It’s more like philanthropy. That’s why the board is successful. We’re just looking to help. That’s why we’re succeeding.”

To learn more about the Chaldean American Chamber, log on to www.chaldeanamericanchamber.com.