Donations for Syrian refugees ‘overwhelming’ say organizers

HALIFAX – Nova Scotia’s Emergency Management Organization says it’s overwhelmed with the donations that have come in for Syrian refugee families at the province’s drop off centre.

More than 5,000 bags of clothes, hundreds of toys, kitchen supplies and entire furniture sets fill the once empty former-Rona store in Bayer’s Lake.

Volunteers and workers call the response from Nova Scotian’s overwhelming.

“We had an idea we would get everything we asked for and more. We just didn’t think we would get it this quickly,” said emergency management planning officer Dominic Fewer.

“It’s incredibly touching how generous people have been,” said volunteer Marianne Weeks.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "It's incredibly touching how generous people have been," said volunteer Marianne Weeks.

Sorting Phase

The next step for organizers and the over 60 volunteers is to sort through the thousands of bags of clothes. Fewer said, more shelves will be installed this weekend, and they now need clothes hangers.

The goal is for the warehouse space to look more like a large retail store when they welcome Syrian families.

“When the new families come in and pick the clothes they want to wear and suit their needs we want to make sure it’s not going through a bin. We want to have it displayed in a way that’s a good experience for them,” said Fewer.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "When the new families come in and pick the clothes they want to wear and suit their needs we want to make sure it's not going through a bin. We want to have it displayed in a way that's a good experience for them," said Fewer.

Fewer says the site will be ready come January.

But Immigration Minister Lena Diab, who got a tour of the site Tuesday, says the first wave of government assisted Syrian refugees could still be a number of weeks away.

“Our hope is that they will be arriving by the end of February, that’s what we’ve been told be the federal government,” Diab said.

Fewer says they won’t know what else they will need until they finish sorting.

He is asking the public not to leave donations at the door, but rather wait open hours.

The location will be closed for the Christmas holidays and will open again on Dec. 29.