Sackville group wants to sponsor 3 to 4 Syrian refugee families

A Sackville group is moving forward with plans to sponsor at least one Syrian refugee family and possibly more.

Mount Allison University chaplain John Perkin is chair of the Sackvillerefugee response coalition.

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Speaking to Information Morning Moncton, he saidthe biggest challenge facing the coalition is fundraising, at a cost of about $30,000 per family.

Wehave to tap into donors who can offer significant amounts of money to get us started.- Rev. John Perkin,Sackvillerefugee response coalition

"I think we all share the sense that if we can manage, financially,three to fourfamilies, they become a bit of asupport to each other, as well as the community supporting them. Soperhaps the biggest challenge will be getting the appropriate fundraising mechanism in place and soliciting those funds."

People across Canada have becomemobilized to help in the wake of the the death ofAlan Kurdi, 3, who was photographed washed up on the Turkish shore in early September. His family was trying to escape the war in their homeland.

Perkin saidthe coalition grew out of a public meeting in September, attended by more than 100 people.

Everyone is working together to come up with a viableplan to bring in refugee familiesand help them adjust to life in Canada.

"Perhaps that works to our advantage, that we have that sense of being a community that looks after those who are here. We also have quite a diverse culture within Sackville," said Perkin.

"Through the university, we have staff members and students who are Arabic speakers and that can be an asset right off the bat,particularly if we get a family that doesn't have any Englishlanguage ability when they first arrive."

Fundraising underway

The next step is to get some major fundraising started.

Perkin said efforts have begun ona small scale already.

"Wehave to tap into donors who can offer significant amounts of money to get us started," he said.

Once the initial$30,000 is raisedthe application process can begin.

"We are working in partnership with the local churches.They will provide the application for the refugee families, but the community itself and this coalition becomes the organization that will do the legwork and fundraising, so those churches can submit those applications."