Many thanks to Shannon Muir of St. Agnes for keeping us up-to-date on Honada's family via her postings on the REST blogsite.
Just a reminder that the family are the first family to arrive in Canada that are part of the cohort of refugees from Syria to be sponsored in Canada through the diocese as Sponsorship Agreement Holder (SAH). They arrived January 14, 2016 and live in North Vancouver. This posting is from February 8.
All of the kids are comfortably in school and the people from The Blueridge Community Association have been wonderful at helping out and making our family feel very welcome and included. The kids are all making friends already! Said began English classes last Friday and he and Honada will be starting this week. The house is very well outfitted with everything they need to keep them comfortable and happy, including some very appreciated bikes!
Fundraising Update: We have raised just under $37,000 so far! We are well on our way to our goal of $75,000. A huge thank you to all of those people who have organized and executed fundraisers, and asked family, friends and neighbors for donations and pledges. Once we have all of the transfers of funds already raised within our group, we will be over the half way mark. Excellent!
There are two great fundraisers planned for this month, both on February 20. St. John's Anglican is having a Pizza and Tellie night fundraiser. See their website for more information.
There is also the Home to REST concert, with the North Shore Celtic Ensemble. This will be at Gloria Dei Lutheran church, which has wonderful acoustics. News flash: Honada and family have said that they would like to attend as special invited guests. If you would like tickets to sell, please send me a note, or you can send people to the North Shore Celtic Ensemble website where they can purchase online.
Refugee Fundraising Cookbook: If any of you has a recipe to submit to the cookbook, please contact Cynthia Bunbury.
February 27 is a benefit concert at Mt. Olivet Lutheran Church with Tak Maeda and family. This should be lots of fun and all are welcome.
Best wishes to you all and thank you for your continued support.