Emergency Medicine: Ripple Refugee Project

Dear colleagues,

Three years ago we contacted you asking for your help in supporting a family of refugees from Syria. The response was overwhelming and we want to sincerely thank everyone who donated to the Ripple Refugee Project. Ripple is an ongoing citizen-led initiative to sponsor, settle and integrate refugees into Canadian society. So far, beyond our wildest expectations, we've managed to welcome 12 newcomers from Syria to our community. It would not have happened without your support.

With the money that you and other generous donors gave, our sponsorship group first focused on Syrian refugees and have settled new parents and their baby, an intergenerational family of eight, and, most recently, a young man who just arrived this past June. Please click here to read more about their incredible personal stories and about the journey that we have all been on. While as expected, they continue to deal with the emotional aftermath of all they’ve experienced, they have successfully made themselves a new home here in Toronto. They have been finding work to support themselves, attending school, and becoming vibrant members of the community.

We are writing to again ask for your kind support for a vulnerable family in need of a new start in life. Our group will be sponsoring a young, unaccompanied mother and her 4 children, the oldest of whom is only 7 years old. The family was forced to flee their home in Eritrea and is currently residing under precarious circumstances in a refugee camp in neighboring Sudan. As you may know, Eritrea is recognized as one of the most repressive regimes in the world (click here to read a UN report on the county’s dire situation).

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the Canadian Government have reviewed and approved this family’s application for refugee status and, with your support, they will arrive in Toronto before this coming Christmas. As sponsors, the members of the Ripple Refugee Project will welcome the family to Toronto and support them in doing everything they need to build a new home here.

We’ve been fortunate in getting some financial support from the government and charitable organizations, but we still need to raise $25,000 to make this happen. Any donations over and above this amount will be used for future refugee resettlements in 2019 and beyond.

Tax-receipted donations can be made on-line via our Sponsorship Agreement Holder (SAH) with the Canadian Government - which is the Rosedale United Church (though please note that Ripple is a secular group). Their donation page is located at Canada Helps (please click here). Please be sure to indicate in the box marked “Include a message for this charity” that the donation is for: RUC-25 Ripple Refugee Project. Some of you have previously been able to meet with our sponsored families and have found this a very rewarding experience. If you would like the opportunity to meet with the families and get to know the Ripple Team, please email either Jennifer or Raghu directly. If you’re interested in becoming even more involved, we’re always looking for people who have time available during weekday business hours to help with appointments, outtings, and language practice.

Together we have an opportunity to transform the lives of these 4 children and their mother.

Your donation will be stewarded carefully by community volunteers like us who receive no compensation and ensure all charitable donations are spent wisely.

Thank you for helping us help this family get a new start on life.

Sincerely,

Jennifer Bryan and Raghu Venugopal