Volunteers spent a sunny Vancouver Saturday collecting medical aid equipment to send overseas to Syria.
Syrian-Canadian Riam El-Safadi organized the event in collaboration with the City of Vancouver, collecting equipment at a makeshift depot at city hall.
“We’re taking the opportunity to collect medical aid equipment from the people in the Lower Mainland, sending it to Syria for people that are physically or mentally challenged,” says El-Safadi. “To just give them some hope.”
Ten medical aid containers have been sent to Syria over the last few years, he adds, thanks to hospitals, volunteers, and British Columbians who have donated old and unused equipment.
“We were overwhelmed with the donations we got today, and the care and compassion of people who came out on a sunny day like this,” he said. “I’m deeply touched by this…it’s our Canadian way.”
In June 2014, El-Safadi was in Syria helping to deliver three containers of gear, seeing firsthand how much the donations meant to doctors and patients.
“If we can help these people, we can show them there is a hope, there is a world that cares about them,” he adds. “Hopefully the war and bombing in Syria ends soon.”
Interested in donating medical aid equipment? Email vancouveraid@gmail.com to arrange a pick-up of donations.
