Karim Chandani is less than $1 million away from reaching his goal of raising $3.5 million for the Arthritis Society to establish a chair in pediatric rheumatology by the end of the year.

Chandani is hosting his celebrity arthritis fundraiser on August 14 and 15. His eight-year-old daughter Jalisa was diagnosed with lupus last June.

So far Chandani has spent about $100,000 of his own money organizing the event, meaning 100 per cent of the money raised will go directly to the Arthritis Society to establish a chair in pediatric rheumatology.

"We are doing it out of this room ... this is where we work," said Chandani. "I got tired of the big charities (because) the administration costs are so high."

Donovan Bailey, Alfonso Riberio, Cheech Marin, Richard Kind, Grant Fuhr and Micheal Trucco are some of the celebrities supporting the event.

Chandani, who has been working six hours a day, six days a week on the fundraiser, admits that when he started this project, it was about his daughter, but that soon changed.

"My daughter has physically changed a great deal due to the medications and what steroids do to her body," said Chandani.

"She gets many different aches and pains. But this is the reality of what she has to live with."