SYRIA—A group of Syrian children are all smiles today, after receiving gifts of toys from a community of Sikhs.
Members of the Lower Mainland Sikh community came together to gather over 1000 toys for children, and today handed out about a third of them to around 100 newly arrived Syrian children.
Surrey MP Randeep Sarai says the Sikh community is paying it forward, from one generation of immigrants to another.
“It’s somebody who helped them out when they came, whether it’s a family or a relative or another member of the community. And the one thing these members identified is that is, ‘look, we should pass that on and help those that are in need right now.”
Sarai says though Metro Vancouver’s Sikh community has a history of humanitarianism, this was the largest fundraiser of its kind for them.
“The Sikh community did to similar stuff maybe in a smaller gesture when the Ugandan refugees came, the Indians from Uganda back in the 70′s. They have a tendancy to always get together for any humanitarian issues.”
Sarai says as the refugees continue to arrive in British Columbia, he hopes to see them settle across the province, saying he knows the Syrian community has a lot to add to local communities here.
