Kitchener-Waterloo

Kitchener neighbourhood association to sponsor Syrian refugee family

The Central Frederick Neighbourhood Association in Kitchener plans to sponsor a Syrian refugee family, in partnership with the Mennonite Central Committee.
A Syrian girl waits with her family at Lebanon's northern Tripoli port for a ferry to Turkey in September. A Kitchener neighbourhood association plans to sponsor a Syrian refugee family. (Jamal Saidi/Reuters)

The Central Frederick Neighbourhood Association in Kitchener plans to sponsor a Syrian refugee family, in partnership with the Mennonite Central Committee. 

The family is currently living in Lebanon, waiting for medical and security checks to be completed.

To sponsor a family, the neighbourhood association must commit to providing for the family's financial needs for a year. They must also find them a home and furnish it. 

To do that, the Central Frederick Neighbourhood Association has to raise $27,000. The group has pledged $1,000 of its own money and other donors have raised over $8,000 so far.

The Central Frederick Neighbourhood Association isn't the only group in the region to partner with the Mennonite Central Committee. In Stratford, a group of churches, volunteers, and the city are banding together to sponsor five Syrian families.