Bringing Syrian Families to Canada

In light of the news of the last few days, I would love to share an opportunity to do good and create hope. We are reaching out to our American/Canadian (or anywhere else!) friends and family to ask for your help. We feel incredibly grateful to live in a Canada where the borders not only remain open, but where we as citizens have the opportunity to sponsor and support refugees fleeing their countries for a better life here. We are a part of a group of friends (we call ourselves "True North") that applied a year ago to support two Syrian families. We were excited to welcome the first of those families (a mother and son) last month. See the photo of us picking them up at the airport! And we are hopeful the second family will arrive in the coming weeks.

The commitment we make as a sponrsor group is to support them for their first year in Canada, and beyond if necessary, e.g., getting settled, finding a place to live, learning English, finding jobs etc etc. This will require a minimum of CA$100,000 (we have raised $80k to date!) and we welcome any support you wish to provide. If we exceed our target then we plan to support additional refugee families.

Our donations, and yours, will pay for their rent, groceries, school, winter clothing and any other expenses that arise during their year. Any donation will make a direct impact - in a real and tangible way - for these families who are starting over. I hope you can support us as we help them start new lives full of hope, opportunity and peace. 100% of your donations will go directly to the families we sponsor.

Family 1: A son and his mother, arrived December 15th. The son had just completed his dental training in Syria and has diligently been studying since his arrival so he can get requalified in Canada. His determination is inspiring!

Family 2: A husband, wife and their 4 children (ages 3-16), arriving this winter/spring (exact date TBD based on the government approval)

Looking forward to sharing updates with you all on both families in the coming weeks.

Please note: Because our group is not a registered charity, we cannot issue tax receipts for your donation. The funds for this campaign will be withdrawn by myself and 100% wired to our group's treasurer (Andrew Graham). Andrew set up a bank account for our True North Group and the funds will be deposited into that account; 100% of the funds will be used to support the Syrian families we are supporting. Each family will recieve from us a monthly stipend to support all their living expenses.