A local church has stepped up to the plate to support a group of Georgetown volunteers working to bring two Afghan families to the community.
Holy Cross Catholic Church recently donated $17,740 to the group, which goes by Georgetown Friends of Refugees Committee 3, or GFORCe3.
The volunteers have been diligently working for over a year to raise funds and ultimately sponsor nine Afghans currently living in hiding from the Taliban.
Under the leadership of their pastor, Fr. Dave Walter, seven Holy Cross parishioners who are members of GFORCe3 organized the church’s fundraising campaign, along with parish secretary Eileen Anderson.
GFORCe3 has also received news from the United Church of Canada and the Presbyterian Church in Canada that both have submitted the required forms to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada to have the two families approved to immigrate to Canada.
“There is still a long wait, but another two bridges have been crossed in their journey,” says the group in a press release.
“It is now a waiting game, but the paperwork is done and the money keeps coming in, thanks to the generosity of our residents. This progress will surely give them (the refugees) hope that they will escape and join their relatives in Canada.”
The two related families went into hiding as their lives were in danger due to their journalism work covering the atrocities committed by the Taliban, forcing them to flee the country with only the clothes on their backs. They also previously wrote in support of education for girls and women in Afghanistan.
The nine Afghans are being supported financially by GFORCe3 while they’re in hiding from their persecutors.
Donations to the cause can be made through Knox Presbyterian or Norval United churches (specifying that the funds are for GFORCe3).
