Raising upwards of $30,000 to sponsor a Syrian refugee family is no small task for a group of parishioners in Essex County.
Members of St. John De Brebeuf, which is clustered with St. Anthony's, are in the very early stages of fundraising to bring a family to the region.
Michael Binder is one of the organizers and says volunteers are needed to play a big role.
"Doing paperwork, taking them to the grocery store. Just daily tasks that they wouldn't be able to do on their own," Binder says. "If we would have tried to do that by ourselves without volunteers it would have been too much for just a few volunteers to handle."
Citizenship and Immigration Canada pays for half of the initial cost, but the rest is up to the church.
"We're responsible for the startup costs, so the first month. Then they kind of give them a living allowance for months two-seven and we're responsible for the rest," Binder says.
He says this was an easy decision and "the right thing to do."
"All the people suffering and people just leaving everything, leaving their homeland," he says. "Leaving pretty much everything they own and risking their lives, risking their children and families' lives."
Anyone interested in helping can donate money or offer to volunteer by email jtos14mb@gmail.com. The church has also set up an online gofundme account.
