Group prepares to welcome another refugee family from Syria

St. Peter's United Church Syrian Refugee Sponsorship group is working to bring a family of 10 fleeing their country's brutal civil war to Canada.

In a news release, Amy Hallman Grout, a member of the sponsorship committee, said exactly when the family will arrive was still not known.

“As with every other sponsorship group, we will not know the date of travel for our family until they are on their way, typically 24-hour notice,” Grout said in the release. “What we do know so far is that we are welcoming the Hasoon family, one of 10 people.

“Until last week, it was a family of seven, parents and five children, and then we said yes to a request to sponsor three more family members, grandparents and an aunt. To be able to have this family be settled in Canada all together is truly a blessing.”

Formed last September, the committee includes members of St. Peter’s concerned with the ever growing refugee crisis in Syria and surrounding countries, Grout said in the release.

“We started by exploring the possibility of our congregation sponsoring a Syrian refugee family,” the release said. “Once we determined that it could be done, we divided up the tasks and began working on making it a reality.

“After official approval from church council at the end of November, a presentation was made to the congregation to lay out our plans.”

The response was wonderful, she said. Along with the congregation, the group has the support of community groups and schools and have received two grants. The monetary and in kind support is such that they have surpassed their original fundraising goal and have been able to furnish the whole household for the family.

They held a volunteer meeting at the end of January that attracted more than 50 people.

“We ate spaghetti, shared our interests, and learned about cultural sensitivity,” Grout said. “After outlining the myriad of tasks that are involved in settling a family of newcomers, we had people sign up for the areas of tasks that they were interested in.”

Those tasks include welcome/social events, financial matters, fundraising, education and the collection of donated good. They are all important when settling a new family in Canada and include things that need to be done before the family arrives, once they arrive, and on an ongoing basis.

“This experience will stretch the welcoming capacity of our congregation and inform our spiritual growth during this year of sponsorship, as well as connect us more closely with our Sudbury community,” Grout said.

Anyone who would like to help get can contact co-chair Gillian Schell at [email protected]. Donations can be directed to the St. Peter’s United Church with attention to the Refugee Sponsorship Fund.