Surrey woman raising $10,000 to help Syrian refugees

Even though it is Christmas day, a Surrey woman is focused on New Year’s Eve as the deadline for her Syrian fundraiser quickly approaches.

Candace Le Roy is hoping to raise $10,000 to help Syrian refugees, with all of the money raised going towards the United Nations High Commission for Refugees.

“$10,000 was chosen because I’d read somewhere that $10,000 was about the amount of money that it takes for a boat to go out for a single day to rescue people,” said Le Roy, who also works as the Director of the Sustainability Office at Simon Fraser University.

READ MORE: Syrian refugees begin arriving in British Columbia

The Surrey woman has been fundraising since October and said she’s raised more than $5500 to date.

As far as what prompted her to launch the campaign, she said it was the photo of Alan Kurdi, the Syrian toddler, who’s lifeless body was photographed on a Turkish beach–a photo that got the world to pay attention to the plight of Syrians fleeing their war-torn homeland.

“It hit me like a brick,” said Le Roy. “It was in my office, I remember, and it broke my heart. He looked so much like my son who’s four-and-a-half. He was lying down, face in the sand and it just looked so much like the same sleeping position that my son sleeps in all the time and it just kind of hit me that this is a very real little boy and a real family who had been lost.”

So far, Le Roy said donations have been coming in from family, friends and local businesses. To meet her goal though, she’s prepared to take it up a notch.

“I’ve thought of things like even knocking door to door. I’m going to go around my own community, I’m going to go around the neighbouring communities and I’m just going to talk to people and I’m going to tell them my story and tell them what I’m trying to do. Even if people can give me two dollars, five dollars, ten dollars, it’s amazing how quickly it can add up.”

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