Our Outreach Committee has several campaigns and projects throughout the calendar year including regular donations to the food bank, socks for the homeless in winter time, Hearts for Refugees, and more!
Local
Each of these Community Organizations are from Saskatoon or are in Saskatchewan.
We financially support these organizations every year and also gather supplies to donate. Click on one of these photos to learn more about the organization!
Global
Refugees - Outreach Subcommittee
AGM Report for 2024
In April 2024, we welcomed a family to Saskatoon jointly with St. Martin’s United Church. The Dakouri family of six arrived in Saskatoon (originally from Syria) in early April 2024, after having tentative travel plans delayed multiple times, starting in October 2023. They were very excited to start a new life in Canada after a very time-consuming process, and great effort has been put into preparing a new home for them. They are slowly adapting to life in Canada, and made a visit to McClure to thank the congregation in November 2024. Due to the family’s delayed arrival, St. Martin’s invested significant financial resources into a home that went unoccupied for months. To raise additional funds, St. Martin’s and McClure organized a series of fundraising initiatives including a silent auction, spring concert and a public talk about synchrotron science.
We currently have a sponsorship application with the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) office for appraisal. Our sponsorship application for a family of five from Afghanistan (who are currently living in Iran) was processed by the United Church Refugee Office (UCRO) and submitted to the IRCC office for appraisal as of November 2020. Given the amount of time that has passed, we are very hopeful this family may arrive in 2025.
We had a second sponsorship for a family of five from Syria (who are currently living in Lebanon), and their paperwork was processed by the UCRO and submitted to the IRCC for appraisal in October 2023. However, local family in Saskatoon have suggested that this family now intends to re-settle in Syria, and we are working with the UCRO to confirm the official status of this sponsorship application.
The Refugee Committee would strongly encourage people interested in our work, or who might be interested in joining, to contact us (please email Joel at joelwreid@gmail.com).