The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

HB NEWS ‘LIVES ARE IN DANGER’ EFFORTS UNDERWAY TO BRING FAMILIES FROM AFGHANISTAN TO CANADA MELANIE HENNESSEY mhennessey@ metroland.com “When was the last time you had a chance to save a life?" This is the question Lois Fraser i is | asking evel raise funds and ultimately sponsor nine Afghans cur- rently in hiding from the The. Georgetown ‘wom- ittee GFORCe3, with the ‘first two iterations of the group successfully helping two families come to Georgetown Friends of Graham Paine/Metroland left) Susan Tupling, Ken Thorn and Dennis McLay are looking to bring two Afghan families here. Canada. Now, the local non-prof- it is focused on assisting two related Afghan fami- lies whose lives are in dan- ger as their journalism work covering the atroci- ties committed by the Tali- N Tas] BBB. ShelfGenie EVERYTHING WITHIN REACH’ a Meighbourly: company TRANSFORM YOUR HOME AND UPGRADE YOUR STORAGE ban has the faction hunting for them, forcing them to flee the country with only the clothes on their backs. They also previously wrote in support of education for girls and women in Af- ghanistan. “Here we sit, in a posi- tion of safety and privilege, knowing that our Afghani families are in grave dan- ger," said Fraser. "We want to help and we want to help now." The federal government nrodced a me, it 0 per cent tof th the f unde needed to support the families in Canada for one year at the time an application is sub- mitted —and100 per cent of the money in place when the individuals arrive. So, GFORCe3 is urgently seek- ing donations to make the mission a ay ip had already raised si, 000 and needs an additional $67,000 before it can submit the applica- tions. Afterwards, an addi- tional $37,000 will be re- quired within six months. The two families have been accepted under Cana- da's Operation Afghan Safety program, which was established to expedite the immigration of Afghans to Canada. “They! 're on a fast track compared to other immi- grants because their lives are in danger," explained Fraser. "The clock is tick- ing on these families’ appli- cation submissions, and al- so on their lives while they are in hidi GFORCe3. said it eipects to have permission to the families to the ‘ocal ommunity months, instead ¢ of the usu- al 12- to 18-month waiting period. The families’ identities must remain anonymous for the time being to keep them safe where they're hiding. For now, the group 8 referring to them as the smith" and "Rogers" cians news release from GrORCes indicates the Af- ghans are educated young adults "who have good em- ployable skills, if we can only get them here." The group will be plan- x ning fundraiser events in the coming months to sup- port their sponsorshij quest. Atthe moment, local | residents can donate to the z cause through the Commu- nity Unity Halton Hills = g page on Canada Helps at https://bit.ly/37CSIES, with all donations receiv- ing a tax receipt. Those with the means to 8 make a large donation or provide a loan are asked to contact one of the following an dal eut | § 02 “pz YEW person local pickup: Su- ‘upling - ping@swis, com, Dennis at dennism- Nay@uympationss, Jean Leckie at j.leckiel@sym- patico.ca or Lois Fraser at Ifraser@fraserdirect.ca. SIGN UP FOR OUR WEEKLY NEWSLETTER AT THEIFP.CA