Thank you very much to everyone who donated to us on Giving Tuesday this year, your contributions will directly improve the lives of refugees in our programs and expand the services we can offer them!
An inspiring story
An unexpected bonus from our Giving Tuesday fundraising campaign this year was learning about one long-term supporter of our work, Mari.
Mari started Mari’s Giving Project back in 2015 when she was just five years old!
At the time, Mari was moved to tears by the Syrian refugee crisis and, with the help of her mom, wanted to find a way to help. And that’s how Mari’s Giving Project was born! Each year Mari and her family collect gifts and toys for children across BC.
2024 is the 9th year of Mari’s annual toy drive, and this year Mari, who is now 14, is also collecting gift items for teenagers, as well as gifts for 1-12-year-olds.
Mari and Syrian children at one of Mari’s earlier toy drive
Mari’s mother is so proud of what her kindness and generosity have achieved: “We haven’t missed a year – even when COVID upended almost everything else in society. Now that Mari is a teenager, she’s so much more involved in speaking to her peers, teachers, and families about the toy drive and creating social media posts to let people know all about it. I think we must have donated hundreds and hundreds of toys by this point!”
Just recently, Mari and her mother, Sabrina, sold ornaments and other gifts made in Ukraine to raise money for humanitarian relief in Ukraine, a cause especially close to the family as Mari and her family are originally Ukrainian themselves.
If you’ve been inspired by Mari’s story, you can get involved by emailing sabrina@yvrscreenscene.com
