The second WeDoSomething Mtl funraiser was held at the fabulous Restaurant Orange Rouge. The Canadian government had agreed to bring 25k Syrian refugees to Canada, and had pledged to match any money raised for the Canadian Red Cross. The president, Conrad Sauvé, came from Ottawa to share his knowledge with us and answered questions.
Restaurant Orange Rouge, whose chef’s parents were once asylum seekers, and Patrick Dumont, one of the owners, were the first to say yes to our crazy idea of opening up their restaurant on what would have been their night off. The entire staff worked for free, and they restaurant donated every cent of their profit to our cause. People are good.
“Grâce aux généreux dons comme celui de l’organisation WeDoSomething, la Croix-Rouge canadienne a pu accueillir en toute dignité les familles syriennes au terme de leur long périple vers le Canada. En plus de cet accueil, des services d’aide à la réinstallation et à l’intégration ont été offerts aux nouveaux arrivants, en collaboration avec des organismes communautaires de partout au pays. La Croix-Rouge est infiniment reconnaissante de cet élan de solidarité qui témoigne d’une humanité sans frontières. ”
We filled the place and ran out of chairs, and together we raised $6066.31, which was matched by the Canadian government, for a total of $12,126.62! Thank you Ali Inay for the incredible photos!
