By Patrick Newhook/December 16, 2021
During the season of giving, one group on the Southern Shore has decided to lend a hand to those arriving here from far away.
On October 26, some 116 Afghan refugees arrived at St. John’s International Airport, with the provincial and federal government aiming to help them establish new lives in the province.
The refugees have been here for a month now, and people are trying to help in whatever way they can.
A couple of women in Ferryland decided they were going to collect and give to the Afghan children this Christmas.
Annette Mooney and Mary Boland worked through and with their parish, and collected donations of activity type materials for two weeks to help give during the holiday season.
Every Christmas the pair works through their church to collect goods for groups in need. One key aim of doing this is to highlight the importance of giving to the younger generations coming up.
“We did this through our church which is Holy Family Parish from Brigus South to Cappahayden,” said Mooney. “Every year we try to have some kind of a project so that children can understand the whole idea of service and how important service is and giving, especially during Christmas, because it’s all about giving and helping the less fortunate.”
In previous years, they have donated to groups including the Gathering Place. For this year’s Christmas season, they decided they would try to help the Afghan refugees in St. John’s. Mooney got in touch with the Association of New Canadians and began to learn about what they needed.
“They told me that what they needed the most is activity type material for the children, especially when they’re in isolation and they need to occupy themselves,” said Mooney.
So Mooney and Boland went to work collecting colouring books and puzzles to help the kids stay entertained and busy.
“For two weeks, we put the notice in the church bulletin, and we put the boxes in the church and the priest spoke about it on the alter and we encouraged the parishioners to bring in items for the collection,” said Mooney “Everybody donated colouring books and markers, puzzles and games, that’s what we collected.”
After the two weeks had passed, they had received a ton of support and lots of donations.
“Thursday past we collected something like eight full recycling bags of all kinds of things,” said Mooney. “People were very, very generous.”
Alice Keough, the community connections coordinator with the Association of New Canadians, knows how donations like these can make the children feel special and welcome.
“They were so excited and they were so pleased,” said Keough. “Overall the day was filled with so much joy and happiness for these kids.”
Moving from Afghanistan to Newfoundland and Labrador is big change, especially if you’re a child, Keough said, and donations like these can go a long way in helping people out and making them feel wanted.
“It helps them by engaging them and making them feel safe and making them feel secure and special,” said Keough, “There’s a lot of people who have reached out to us and have donated things for these children, for these families. I think it certainly gives them a sense that this can be their new home and that they are welcome and the community certainly welcomes them with these gestures.”
Inside one of the bags that came from the Southern Shore was a hand written letter from a parishioner with a message welcoming the refugees to Newfoundland.
‘Welcome to our beautiful province of Newfoundland and Labrador,’ it read. “May you find love, peace and happiness in whatever part of the province you will make your home. We hope you love this place as much as we do.’
“That little gesture is just so special,” said Keough.
