Calgary organizations gearing up for arrival of Afghan refugees

CALGARY – It’s unclear how many refugees from Afghanistan Calgary will be welcoming, but the Centre for Newcomers is gearing up for their arrival.

The centre’s president, Anila Lee Yuen, says a number of agencies are offering their help, including Immigrant Services Calgary and the Immigrant Education Society.

“We’ve got the Women In Need Society (WINS) that is willing to already start taking donations from the public for gently used or new clothing for, you know, males or females, children, and also household items,” she said.

RELATED: C-17 military planes flying into Afghanistan reconfigured to maximize number of passengers

The coalition of organizations is also collecting non-perishable food items to package up for refugees who land here.

“We work with 18 different organizations [to collect] culturally-comforting food items–things like rice and lentils, you know, and the basics like oil and sugar and flour.”

If you have non-perishable food items you’d like to donate, you can drop them off at the Centre for Newcomers.

RELATED:

• Calgary’s Afghan Community rally together to protest Taliban takeover

• Canadians concerned for loved ones trying to flee Afghanistan

• Afghan Canadians ‘feel helpless’ watching horror in homeland

People interested in volunteering can also contact Immigrant Services Calgary.

“They have this wonderful database called the gateway system and we can at least start collecting people’s names for people that would like to volunteer as and when we have Afghan families coming into the city,” explained Yuen.