July 15,2024
Dear Friends and Supporters,
As Spring has turned into Summer and our focus changes to enjoying the warmth of this time of year so has the focus of ERA changed.
We have much to be thankful for.
Abdul, who arrived last July, has now completed his first year in Canada with the support of ERA. Abdul had spent half a year in English classes before he secured a job as a Baker in Kitchener.
We had a virtual meeting with him lately and his English improved tremendously. It was music to our ears!
He continues to live with his sister, Khawla and her family, is still saving up for a car and is hoping to move into his own place sometime soon.
Although our one year commitment is complete we continue to help as needed especially around finances and when bigger life events happen.
Our focus has now turned towards preparing the application to sponsor our 6th family.
We are so thrilled to report that we reached our goal of $20,000 required to submit the application. These funds are held in trust until the refugee family arrives.
The application process involves having several virtual meetings with the family in Lebanon, collecting their documents and then filling out the proper Canadian Government forms with the help of our Sponsorship Partner the Anglican Diocese of Niagara. The application is almost complete and hope to have it submitted later in July.
We wanted to take this opportunity to thank all of you who donated money and items that we could sell to help us reach this first $20,000 goal.
Most of this was collected by individual donors, however, there were several organizations and businesses that also provided a donation. We would like to thank them as we realize this is a community effort and to us it is heartwarming to witness the broad range of support:
All Saints Anglican Church
Erin United Church
The Royal Canadian Legion (Erin)
Pintar Corporation (Erin)
Rotary Club (Erin)
Gemstone Event Management
Manulife/RBC
Emerald Foundation
Willow and Grace Foundation
In the fall we will be launching our second phase of fundraising and have a few events planned:
Craft Sale – October 19th
Epicure Fundraiser (online) – October 2nd- October 31st
Community Dinner at All Saints Anglican Church – October 25
Erin Window Wonderland Sale – November 15
(We will be selling handcrafted items donated by several supporters.. if you have something you would like to donate please email us!)
Please join us on our Facebook Group if you haven’t already!
We are also sharing an article on Guelph Today about our work with the latest family. https://www.guelphtoday.com/wellington-county/syrian-refugee-family-one-step-closer-to-safety-thanks-to-erin-group-9196749
Again, a big thank you for supporting us in this important work. We truly appreciate it. We will be in touch again as we move along.
Best wishes,
Bertha, Sue, Cathy & Deney
erinrefugeeaction.ca 