Grade Three Students From Edmison Heights Help Reunite Family Members From Syria

On Saturday, June 17th from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., a dedicated group of Grade 3 students from Edmison Heights Public School will host a yard sale to help raise funds to reunite a Syrian family displaced by war. 

The yard sale will take place in the Adam Scott parking lot and there will also be a silent auction featuring donations generously gifted to the class by local artists and businesses.

Safe Haven for Refugees Peterborough is excited that teacher Laura Smith and her students have taken the initiative to help reunite family members from Syria.

In January 2016, Safe Haven had the privilege of welcoming the Alftih family from Aleppo Syria. Mohammad and Randa and their four children have now been settling into their life in Peterborough for over a year. 

While the family has done very well, opening a successful family business—Oasis Mediterranean Grill (OMG) this year—the family has left behind most of their close family members. Reunification of families can often be the missing piece toward successful integration in a new country and community. 

This Grade three class at Edmison Heights is determined to help get the family back together, and “be the change they want to see”. “They had such a beautiful life in Aleppo before the war," says 8-year-old student Rielle MacDougall. “They have lost all of that now.”

This year, Safe Haven is anticipating the arrival of the Alftih children’s grandmother, grandfather, their aunts and their cousins on their mother Randa’s side. Laura Smith and her students hope that the community will support their efforts by coming out to the sale this coming Saturday.

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