About Us
The Refugee Response Collective is a group of concerned Edmontonians that have recently come together to help address the situation of refugees fleeing from Syria.
Our plan is to raise funds for humanitarian aid in the refugee camps in Lebanon and Jordan, to resettle one or more families in Edmonton and to welcome and support the newcomers when they arrive and through at least their first year in Canada.
We will be working with the Mennonite Central Committee who have considerable experience in bringing refugees to Canada and are already providing aid in the camps in Jordan and Lebanon and are preparing to bring refugees to Canada. Our group will be responsible for raising the money to sponsor families but the money raised will be directed to and handled by the Mennonite Central Committee. We have chosen to work through an already established organization rather than spend valuable time creating a new non-profit. The Mennonite Central committee has 23 years of experience in the region and has 27 ongoing partnered humanitarian aid projects for refugees in the area.
Since the civil war began in Syria there has been unrelenting upheaval and the world has watched the situation for refugees become more and more dire. This summer we have had almost daily news of people risking and sometimes losing their lives as they try to escape the ongoing chaos in small boats trying to reach Europe. It has been called the worst humanitarian disaster of our times, displacing more than 50% of the Syrian population. Over half of the refugees are under the age of 18. The Refugee Response Collective offers a concrete way to help.
This humanitarian crisis, the biggest of our time, is a test of our ability to come together to help those in greatest need and to be willing to become a part of a global response supporting the human right to safety and shelter.
Our project is called "Safe and Sound." It simply states that this is our goal and our hope for the refugees-safety and shelter.
- President: Marianne Watchel
- Vice President: Maryann Borch
- Treasurer: Nancy Chisholm
- Secretary: Pam McKinnon Coco
- Signing Officers, All executive members and Sarah Cashmore.