Rally to help Syrian refugees draws crowd in Kitchener
10 local agencies share outreach strategies with Waterloo Region residents
Over a hundred people gathered at Carl Zehr Square outside Kitchener City Hall Tuesday in a rally showing Waterloo Region's support for Syrian refugees.
Ten different local agencies participated in the rally, setting up information booths to provide Region residents with information on how they can help, from sponsoring a refugee family to come to Canada to donating money.
Layla Jabbour was among the volunteers at the event. She works with Sham Rose, a local grassroots organization created by the Syrian community in Waterloo Region when the crisis began to escalate four years ago.
"It's important to prioritize the Syrian voices in this conflict because they understand really well what is going on," said Jabbour.
"It's really really tough to have this happen to a whole community. Everyone you know is basically struggling the same struggle."
During the rally Regional Chair Ken Seiling noted that regional council had voted to give $25,000 to the Mennonite Central Committee to support work with Syrian refugees both in Waterloo Region and overseas.
That's in addition to the $10,000 already pledged by Kitchener City Council on Monday.