Fundraiser planned to help bring Syrian refugee family to Olds

A St. Stephen's Catholic Church committee is spearheading a fundraising drive to bring a Syrian refugee family to Olds.

Committee member John Palardy says the goal is to raise $35,000. So far, they've raised about $20,000.

In an effort to hit their fundraising target, the committee has organized a fundraising gala, to be held in the St. Stephen's Catholic Church Hall (the basement of the church) Friday, Oct. 7.

Cocktails are at 6 p.m. with dinner and silent auction starting at 7 p.m. The program, which includes a speech by representatives of a Syrian refugee family living in Calgary, begins at 8 p.m.

Tickets are $60 per person. A tax receipt will be issued for 50 per cent of this cost.

Palardy says the money raised would be used to help cover relocation expenses for the family for one year.

He says the committee doesn't yet know who the family will be.

“The common elements are that they are young professional families with successful small businesses who had to flee to Lebannon to escape the devastation and trauma of war with their lives. As Christians, they are not safe in refugee camps populated by Muslims,” Palardy says.

“As Christians, we sense the call to be living instruments of our God in saving even one family.

“All the while these families languish in a foreign land not their own – or on occasion are sent back into the war zone. Life shouldn't be a horror movie,” he adds.

Palardy says first, the committee has to obtain the money. Then they'll contact Catholic Social Services in Edmonton to say they're ready to sponsor a Syrian family because they have sufficient funds to do so.

He figures once they make that call, they'll learn who their family will be about a month later.

He says it could take eight to 12 months for the family to arrive here.

The committee began working on this project this past spring.

“The actual kickoff and the announcement in the church happened to be the very morning that we were commanded by the archdiocese in Edmonton that we were to have a fundraising (drive) for Fort Mac. So it couldn't have been worse timing to have had it then,” he says.

Palardy says right now, raising the funds to bring the family over seems to be the biggest challenge.

“The really huge obstacle right now is raising sufficient funds, partly because of what happened in Fort Mac and partly because unemployment has been up for a while,” he says.

“So we're finding that people are generous, but they're probably holding on a little more than they used to in the past.”

Palardy is looking forward to the talk by the refugee family reps.

“My thought was, if we can get a refugee to come and speak about what this whole process has been about, that's probably as touching a story as we're going to get,” he says.

He says the stories he's heard of are heart-rending.

“(In one family) he's an architect. He had his own small business in tourism with restaurants. They lost everything. They're just devastated,” Palardy says.

“I know there's been some talk about ‘well, we need to help the people – the Fort Mac people for example. And we say ‘yeah, you're right; we do,'” Palardy says.

“But the circumstances are extremely different between the two. They're walking away from a huge, devastating fire. (The refugee families) have been living five years in a war-torn country and being threatened with their lives. It's different.”

Palardy is aware that, thanks to the current economic downturn, there are many residents in Olds and area that are hurting financially – including some who are unemployed, so he can understand why some may say jobs need to be found for current residents, rather than for people from overseas.

“I've heard that and our reaction would be, ‘we just need a bigger vision than that,'” he says.

“Yes we do need to take care of them. In fact, I have a family member who's out of work because of the oilpatch. But that shouldn't stop me from reaching out to help someone else (who's in trouble). Dig a little deeper, I guess.”

[email protected]