The Al Ibrahim family from Syria held a special dinner of appreciation for those who helped to bring them to Port Elgin (Saugeen Shores) as refugees in 2016.
The family originally from Aleppo, Syria lost their home and had to flee staying in a refugee camp near Beirut until they were granted passage to Canada.
A group in Port Elgin launched the Saugeen Shores Refugee Fund (SSRF) in September, 2015 to raise the $20,000 needed to bring the family to their new home.
In 2015, Katherine Martinko, founder of SSRF said that, “Saugeen Shores has so much to offer. It is full of caring, compassionate, determined individuals. We can provide a safe and stable environment for this family to raise their children, and who doesn’t deserve that?”
From individual to organizations and corporate donations and several fundraising concerts, the group succeeded in raising the funds, along with donations of furniture and clothing.
“It brought the community together,” Martinko says. “The relocation effort was as much about us as it was about them.”
With assistance from the Mennonite Community Council, and sharing sponsorship with the Canadian government, the Saugeen Shores group had to raise the funds that supported the family for their first 12 months in Canada.
The support gave the family the opportunity to get back on their feet. Today, the family owns their home, the children are in school and have become fluent in English. Father, Saad and son, Mohammed are working at WalMart and daughter Aiesha works part-time after school.
The family, under the supervision of mom, Ghaydaa, prepared the delicious meal of traditional Syrian dishes that was served in the Rotary Hall at the Plex in Port Elgin on Saturday, February 23rd.
