Refugee Committee

The Refugee Committee helps to support newcomers to Canada and to our community.

We have welcomed a new family on October 27, 2021.

We have welcomed another new family in October 2022.

Instructions to Donate are at the bottom of the page

The Barrie Refugee Committee is a small local committee of concerned Barrie citizens helping refugee families settle in our community. Our humanitarian work supports people of any race, gender, religion, and ability. We believe in the principle of humans helping other humans and share a commitment to social justice. We engage in a wide range of activities to facilitate the successful integration of refugee families into the Barrie community, including the location of suitable housing, liaising with schools, health care providers, and government services. We become their extended family, offering practical, social, and emotional support as needed, to facilitate a successful transition into a new way of living in our community and country.

We have supported refugees from various countries including Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Syria, and Sudan. We currently have a number of sponsorships being processed. We are awaiting the imminent arrival of a Syrian family and a family from Sudan. We have 3 additional Sudanese families who we expect to arrive within the next year and a fourth family from Sudan who we are raising money to sponsor. This family has 6 children and in desperate need of a fresh start. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) requires that we have $57,200 to be held in trust before allowing this application. We currently have raised $26,400, leaving a shortfall of $30,800. We are in urgent need of donations.

The war in Sudan is especially concerning to us, as it seems to have been forgotten by the international community. We are hearing heartbreaking first-hand reports from families in Sudan with whom we have a connection. One family watched their eldest daughter bleed to death after giving birth to her first child, unable to get medical help. One man witnessed his mother and sister being killed by a rocket mortar that hit their house. Some children have contracted malaria while living in the overcrowded refugee camps.

Excerpts from a March 19, 2024 article by the BBC describe the horrifying situation: “Civilians caught up in Sudan's civil war have given graphic accounts to the BBC of rape, ethnic violence and street executions…the conflict has plunged the country into ‘one of the worst humanitarian nightmares in recent history’ and could trigger the world's largest hunger crisis…The UN says 300,000 people were killed and rape was widely used as a way to terrorise black African communities and force them to flee…Aid agencies warn of a humanitarian situation spiraling out of control, with the UN's children's agency, Unicef, saying some communities are on the brink of famine.”

Kerry Bowman in his opinion piece in the Globe and Mail (August 3, 2024) had this to say: “Neglecting the breadth and scope of human suffering in Sudan diminishes us all…By ignoring Sudan’s massive human catastrophe, we run the risk of accepting a global, general decline in the humanitarian standards we have long fought hard for. We must consider this unacceptable”.

We are in urgent need of donations. Please consider helping a family fleeing war.

100% of the funds raised are used to support the Refugee Family. You can make a tax-deductible donation online.

Step By Step Instructions to Donate to Barrie Refugee Committee Refugee Sponsorship Program at St. Mary’s:

Click on Donate Button – Top Right of Website
Click on “Donate to Parish Offertory” – The first box
Choose “Donate Once” or on a “Monthly” basis
Choose an amount – or enter a personal amount
The “How would you like to direct your gift” box will automatically say – St. Mary’s Parish, Barrie
Enter Donor Details (Name, Email, Address) Press Enter
In the “Notes to Parish” Box type “Refugee Sponsorship Program”
Enter Credit Card Details
Click on Donate $_____

Thank you for your Support.

There are tax advantages for those who donate securities. Info HERE

For more information, contact Sheila Lewis - Watts (705) 737-1880.