Discovery Ridge residents ‘teaching our children to care’
Their inspiration was last year’s Syrian refugee crisis but after sponsoring a family, a group of Discovery Ridge residents are continuing on with new acts of kindness.
The Project Long Table Society is hitting the streets of downtown Calgary today to hand out some bags of Christmas cheer.
“This year has been a stressful one for many Calgarians and ... we know a lot of people are going to be feeling extra stress and pressure this week,” said Laura Perron.
“Some people might think ‘who cares?’ It’s nothing and why bother?’ But we might meet someone who goes back to their office in a totally different frame of mind. It’s about changing someone’s day.”
The group of neighbours and their children will be handing out bags containing hand warmers, a Christmas orange and some sweet treats to brighten the day. They will also be handing out Subway gift cards to the homeless or otherwise marginalized people they come across.
“We are fortunate and we are blessed and we want to give back. A big part of our mandate is inspiring change and also teaching our children to care about and help others.”
Last year, a group of neighbours and friends got together to do what they could during the refugee crisis. They formed the Discovery Ridge Sponsorship Group to privately sponsor a Syrian couple who had a baby girl this summer. Held up by red tape, the family hasn’t yet arrived in Canada.
“They’re in a really unstable part of Turkey right now. Every time we hear about a bombing we call,” said Perron. “They’re holding on to hope but it’s hard. They’re so desperate and they’ve experienced unspeakable atrocities.”
Perron said they hope the family will arrive in Calgary in early 2017 but in the meantime, some of the group wanted to carry on with other projects to promote a sense of community and a spirit of sharing. Thus Project Long Table Society was formed.
They’ve raised money for the Syrian family but have also done fundraisers for those affected by the Fort McMurray wildfires. They’ve even inspired their children to start their own Long Table initiatives such as a lemonade stand and a garage sale benefiting Fort McMurray Fire Relief Efforts, Carya and the Calgary Food Bank.
“We had a group of children together yesterday, ages from four to 10, packing the bags for today. It was awesome to see their enthusiasm.”
Perron said they hope to expand the network beyond their neighbourhood and even the city. “Our initial connection has been geographic, but future connections are without boundaries.”