Kerri Davies is collecting toys for Syrian refugee families and is looking for donations.
As part of Canada’s commitment to accept 25,000 Syrian refugees over the next few months, Peterborough will soon be welcoming a number of refugee families — many of whom have young children.
Davies, Manager of Development at the Canadian Mental Health Association (Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge), is working with the Peterborough Refugee Network and New Canadians Centre to coordinate a toy drive for the children of Syrian refugee families.
“I decided to do this when I fell in love with a stuffed animal while shopping and wanted to buy it for one of my grandkids — but none of them need one more stuffed animal,” Davies says. “So a couple of weeks ago, I decided to start collecting for children who probably don’t have a single toy.”
Davies has also reached out to the Peterborough Petes, who will be donating stuffed animals (the Petes’ annual Teddy Bear Toss happens at tonight’s hockey game). Davies and members of the Petes’ organization will at the New Canadians Centre (221 Romaine St,, Peterborough) on Wednesday, December 9th at 11 a.m. to unload the toys.
Davies is also encouraging members of the community to drop off new, unwrapped toys to her office at the Canadian Mental Health Association branch at 415 Water Street in Peterborough.
