The Grunthal Refugee Sponsorship Group held a 24 Hours in a Refugee Camp awareness and fundraising event from Friday to Saturday.

Participants were only allowed to bring a tent and sleeping bag. They were then guided through a number of tasks such as cooking rice and beans over a fire.

Organizer Heather Neufeld says a refugee family that came to Canada in 1998 also attended the event and shared their story with participants. She notes they are raising money to sponsor a refugee family to come to Grunthal. 

"It is going to go towards bringing the family here, setting up their home. We have to get all of their furniture, beds, everything. We are hoping to have some donated furniture to help with that but it will go toward making up the difference and it will go toward their living cost for the first year."

Neufeld says the goal with the event was to give participants a small taste of what it is like to live in a refugee camp. She says the idea was inspired by fundraisers like the CEO Sleepout and 30 Hour Famine. She notes they were shocked to raise around $16,000.

"I have been blown away. We have had more people than I thought would come, we have definitely had way more donations than I thought we would get. We are so blessed by that, and everybody has been so positive at the camp. I know they were cold last night, they were shivering, there was some noise, everybody has just had a great attitude this morning and we have been so excited to see the response."

Neufeld says 35 people participated in the 24-hour fundraiser.

Read More:

Refugee camp coming to Grunthal