Edmonton Mennonite Centre launches campaign to help Ukrainian refugees

It’s Multiculturalism Day, and the Edmonton Mennonite Centre for Newcomers is launching a new Heart & Soul fundraising campaign to inspire Edmontonians to give to Ukrainian refugees and newcomers.

To kick off the new campaign, they held a drive-thru donation drive, which will go to newcomers and refugees who need it most. EPCOR employees also packed up welcome kits for refugees, which contain all of the toiletry essentials, including toothbrushes, deodorant and soap.

EMCN says there are high needs from the Ukrainian community, but a lot of refugees from Afghanistan, Syria and Yemen are also using their services. The organization has helped more than 600 families in the past several months.

“They are really reliant on the community to get themselves settled for however long they are here. It could be a few years, it could be a lifetime. When refugees arrive, they typically arrive with almost nothing. Sometimes they’ve been given a few things along the way, but a lot of times they’re looking for even a backpack to carry some clothes out with them,” says Meghan Klein, Executive Director with the Edmonton Mennonite Centre for Newcomers.

The campaign runs until Ukrainian Independence Day on August 24th. During this time, EPCOR will match all donations up to 40 thousand dollars. These dollars will be used to support the huge influx of newcomers in our city.