Maritimers step up to help Ukrainian refugees displaced by war
A Saint John woman has launched a Facebook page aimed at helping to coordinate efforts in Atlantic Canada to assist displaced Ukranians.
Carol Ailles started the online group called Atlantic Canada Hosts for Ukrainian Refugees in late March after she decided she needed to do something to help those who have had to flee their homes.
“We wanted to provide information,” says Ailles. “We have hosts that have opened their homes so that people can come and get started, the people are offering accommodation, they’re offering food, supplies, whatever they can do.”
The page has now grown to nearly 3,000 people. The goal is to be a hub to ask questions and find important information. Ailles says the purpose of the page can be boiled down to a single sentence.
“To get as many people out of danger, to a safe place,” she says.
“Everything is so confusing, they have to fill out all these papers, which are supposed to take two weeks, right now it’s at least taking a month and people are still not through the process … so our agenda is to get them out, and here.”
Ailles has opened her own home to Ukrainian refugees. She’s made two rooms in her house available, but they have not yet been occupied.
“I started out saying a mother with two children, but a single woman contacted me and so she is getting the single room – she is still waiting for her documents,” she says.
Ailles says the group is looking for corporate sponsors, gift certificates, and donations to arrange individual flights. They are also in need of cell phones and SIM cards, clean socks and underwear, and more.
While there are efforts underway to help refugees get to the Maritimes, the Cape Breton Regional Municipality is now working to help those who are abroad, specifically its sister city in Poland, by raising money for refugees who are in Walbrzych.
“The city of Walbrzych has welcomed close to 4,000 Ukrainian refugees so far, 2,200 of them have registered officially with city hall,” says Tom Urbaniak, chair of the Twin City Steering Committee.
Urbaniak says they wanted to show solidarity with their sister city, so CBRM is helping to coordinate donations.
“So, folks can make donations to the Cape Breton Regional Municipality,” he says.
“Those are promptly transferred to a special fund that the city has set up to assist the refugees and to buy basic supplies – that’s how the money is being used."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Serial sexual offender linked to unsolved 1970s homicides of four Calgary girls, women
An investigation into unsolved historical homicides from the 1970s has linked the deaths of two girls and two young women in and around Calgary to a now-deceased serial offender.
Woman with liver failure rejected for a transplant after medical review highlights alcohol use
For nearly three months, Amanda Huska has been in an Ontario hospital, part of it on life support, because of severe liver failure. Her history of alcohol use is getting in the way of her only potential treatment: a liver transplant.
Dabney Coleman, actor who specialized in curmudgeons, dies at 92
Dabney Coleman, the mustachioed character actor who specialized in smarmy villains like the chauvinist boss in '9 to 5' and the nasty TV director in 'Tootsie,' has died. He was 92.
BREAKING Craig Berube named as next head coach of Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs have named Craig Berube as their new head coach.
Person charged in random assault on actor Steve Buscemi in New York
A person wanted in connection with the random assault on actor Steve Buscemi on a New York City street earlier this month was taken into custody Friday, police said.
B.C. man 'attacked suddenly' by adult grizzly near Alberta boundary: RCMP
A B.C. man is recovering from multiple injuries after he was "attacked suddenly" by an adult grizzly bear near Elkford Thursday afternoon.
Australia's richest woman seeks removal of her portrait from exhibition
Art is subjective. And while many artists long to share their work with the world, there's no guarantee that the audience will understand it, or even like it.
Video appears to show Sean 'Diddy' Combs beating singer Cassie in hotel hallway in 2016
Security video aired by CNN appears to show Sean 'Diddy' Combs physically assaulting singer Cassie in a Los Angeles hotel hallway in 2016.
A look back at Alberta's record-breaking wildfire season
By the end of the 2023 wildfire season in Alberta, 1,088 wildfires had burned more than 2.2 million hectares of land, and this year, the wildfire season is already in full swing.