Canadian couple scales down lavish wedding, raises $17,000 to help Syrian refugees

A Toronto-based couple recently proved that Canadians are happy to lend a helping hand to Syrian refugees when they cancelled their plans for a lavish wedding, and chose to use the money to sponsor a Syrian family instead, according to media reports. ABC News reports that in September, Samantha Jackson and Farzin Yousefian were in the midst of planning a dream lavish wedding in March. They had almost finalised the venue and the caterers when a particular photo hit the news – that of three-year-old refugee Aylan Kurdi’s body washed up on a beach in Turkey. [caption id=“attachment_2517704” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Ferzin and Samantha. Screengrab from YouTube[/caption] The photo really hit Jackson hard. According to CBC News, Jackson is a PhD student at Ryerson University and is also a volunteer with the University’s Lifeline Syria Challenge, whose aim is to raise funds for Syrian refugees. The bride told ABC News that looking at the photo made both her and Yousefian feel they had to “do something positive”. They decided to scale down their wedding and use the money to help refugees. On 9 October, Jackson and Yousefian wed at City Hall. They had dinner at a restaurant and hosted their reception at a bar, reports ABC News. Their friends were so supportive of their decision that they donated money to their cause instead of giving traditional wedding gifts, Yousefian told BBC News. The duo has raised C$22,750 ($16,969) but they need a total of C$27,000 ($20,139) in order to be able to sponsor a Syrian family of four. Interested donors can visit Ryerson’s page to make their donations. Yousefian told the BBC that he felt “truly privileged” that they could do something like this and he is sure it “will inspire others”. Canada has promised to take in 25,000 refugees by the end of the year, reports CBC News. Immigration Minister John McCallum said on Friday, 20 November, that the government is working out the details and will announce its plan for helping refugees integrate in the country while ensuring Canadians’ safety on Tuesday. “It is the right thing to do,” he is quoted as saying by CBC News.