United Arab Emirates donation 'fell out of the sky' for P.E.I. charity

P.E.I.'s Stars for Life Foundation is celebrating an unexpected donation from the embassy of the United Arab Emirates.

Stars for Life provides support for people with autism after they have left the school system.

Hamad Al Awadi, charge d'affaires for the UAE embassy in Ottawa, said support for charity is an important part of his embassy's work, and Stars for Life fits that mission in a couple of ways. Autism is a focus for the country right now, and the embassy likes to support community organizations.

"Non-profit foundations or agencies are very important because the money is going to the people directly," said Al Awadi.

"We try to support people that don't have support."

The donation, of $20,000 US, comes to almost $26,000 Cdn.

Carolyn Bateman, co-founder of Stars for Life, said it comes at a good time, because the foundation was facing a $20,000 shortfall in fundraising this year.

"This fell out of the sky and we're more than happy it did," said Bateman.

In addition to covering the shortfall, Bateman hopes the money can go to helping out some people on their wait list.

"If we can even address one more person or two more people it would be wonderful," she said.

"We're not serving nearly the population that we need to serve. We need to be double our size right now."

The UAE embassy became aware of the Stars for Life Foundation through P.E.I. Senator Percy Downe.

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