They say it takes a village to raise a child.
It鈥檚 starting to look like it takes a city of humanitarian-minded 91大黄鸭 residents to help refugee families build a new life in the Okanagan.
Luckily, they鈥檙e in ample supply.
Keith Germaine is among a growing army of volunteers helping Syrian refugees put down roots in the area. He鈥檚 been doing his share through the Roman Catholic Diocese of Nelson, which has sponsored a number of families, and that has led him to help with everything from housing to job hunting.
His latest accomplishment is being part of the effort to line up vehicles for the families that have arrived.
鈥淎s you can imagine, it鈥檚 difficult for volunteers to move these families around,鈥� he said, noting that some of 91大黄鸭鈥檚 new residents have upwards of six family members, the majority of which require car seats.
鈥淰olunteers will use these vans for driving around the families, until (the refugees) get their licences, and then they鈥檒l take possession.鈥�
Transportation, he explained, will be key to their integration.
One of the first new Okanaganites sponsored by the Catholic church to get a vehicle was the five-person Al Lwisi family, which has made Oliver home.
They got their new wheels when a family that moved to 91大黄鸭 as refugees in 1995 from Kosovo, during its crisis, contacted Germaine to say they had a van available for donation.
It needed transmission help, so Germaine then went about contacting as many shops specializing in transmissions as he could, but only one responded.
Todd Maleschok, of Mountain Transmission, had been looking for a way to give back to the community, and donated the $1,500 in labour needed to get the van up to snuff.
鈥淣ow (the Al Lwisi family) has been able to get a job,鈥� said Germaine, noting they鈥檝e had no problem thus far finding work for the refugee families that have moved to the Okanagan, but transportation is a bit of a stumbling block.
Mountain Transmission didn鈥檛 stop at that project.
They followed up with diagnostic work on another van and are open to more opportunities, should someone else have a donation.
Also doing a great deal of work is Tony Diemand, from Car Craft, a mechanics shop on Windsor Road that has giving-back-to-the -community as part of its mandate.
His employees have donated their time to completely restore a Dodge Caravan and Pontiac Montana that were donated by customers.
Total man-hours rang in at around $8,000. And for parts he reached out to Lordco for help.
Shaun Wheater, the manager, anted up around $4,000 in supplies. GoTire donated the detailing services and NTE gave a set of tires. Now two families will have a safe way to get around.
To his mind the effort is well worth it.
It demonstrates to the new residents that they鈥檙e part of a network, and that, he said, will be key to their success going forward.
鈥淭hey know the community is there for them,鈥� Diemand said.
Germaine said the strength and generosity of this community is something he鈥檚 been heartened by since families started arriving.
鈥淭his is the first time I鈥檝e seen the faith community coming together,鈥� Germaine said.
鈥淢uslims, Sikhs, Mormons, Evangelicals, Catholics, Lutherans鈥verybody is coming together for these people.
鈥淧eople are people, and it doesn鈥檛 matter what faith they are, we know we can make a difference if we can work together鈥攁nd we are.鈥�
There are at least 10 vans needed. Anyone who has a van they鈥檇 like to donate, call Wheater at 778-478-1520 or Diemand at 250-860-7444.
