Another call has been made for volunteers and donations to help Syrian refugees arriving in the Maritimes in increasing numbers.
Church groups say they are amazed by the generosity being shown by Maritimers, but donations are barely keeping pace with the demand.
"It seems quite often that we have a lot of stuff, but once you get three or four families through with five, six, seven people in the family, and last week we even had some with eight people in the family, furniture goes very, very fast," said Rev. Wayne Murphy of Lancaster Baptist Church.
Mahmoud arrived in the Maritimes two weeks ago. On Saturday, the Syrian refugee was helping out at a donation depot for other Syrian refugees.
Volunteers say it’s one way of integrating a newcomer into life in Canada.
"We invited him to participate and he wanted to come and help,” said volunteer Edward Powell. “It's another way of learning the language, too. As you spend time with people, you begin to pick up the words and know how to communicate"
David Seely arrived with everything for a kitchen, but the sink.
"Dishes, cups glasses, knives forks spoons, pots and pans, and all of the extra things that could be added"
More than 270 Syrian refugees have arrived in Saint John – roughly half of the total that the community is expecting.
Murphy says he is amazed at the good quality of most of the donations and grateful for the generous spirit displayed by those who are donating.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Mike Cameron.
