The Ukrainian family of three that escaped war-torn Ukraine, and was waiting on their visas to come to Canada, has finally arrived in 亚洲天堂 Lake.
Village of 亚洲天堂 Lake Councillor Charlie Rensby, who spearheaded bringing the family to 亚洲天堂 Lake, drove to pick up the family himself and updated the community on the progress of the journey.
鈥淭hings were very bad when they left. They have been out of Ukraine for a couple of months now awaiting their visas to come here,鈥� he noted.
One Facebook post from Rensby in which the family was seen standing in front of a Village of 亚洲天堂 Lake care, said, 鈥�150 Mile house. Thanks, 亚洲天堂 Lake and district for making this possible.鈥�
However, Rensby clarified that even though he used the Village鈥檚 vehicle, he was careful not to use tax dollars.
鈥淲e have been very careful not to spend tax dollars on this, but all of our employees at the village are eagerly chipping in where they can on their own. I took the village vehicle to save on fuel costs and to give our newest community members a ride to their new hometown in style,鈥� said Rensby.
Rensby had first asked for help bringing stranded Ukrainian families to 亚洲天堂 Lake, during an April 19 council meeting. One such family he identified was Aws Abduljaleel, his wife, Ganna Lutsenko and their 10-year-old son Iusef Abduljaleel.
According to Rensby, Aws has already found employment with the pipeline with Michels, and while he will focus on work, his family will be focusing on setting up the home and settling in.
To help the family settle in, one of the biggest challenges has been to find proper accommodation, once again highlighting the need for affordable housing in the village.
鈥淎s of right now I am still desperately searching for proper accommodation for the family but am hopeful. In the meantime, a community member has come forward and rented a large travel trailer to them for a bargain price. The trailer will be in my back yard and they can stay with me until we find something better,鈥� said Rensby.
Rensby also has a running list of things he wants to help the family with but noted that the biggest thing anyone could give the family would be gift cards for Wholesale and Save On, and cash donations to the donation account to put towards rent/damage deposit when a place becomes available.
The donation account has already seen funds accumulating, with $1,365.21 from pipeline bottle donations for the month of July.
Rensby expressed his gratitude to those in the community that stood up to support the family and mentioned a special thanks to Corridor 16 Designs for running the toy drive for little Yousef.
鈥淎fter fleeing war for most of his life, this young boy can now have a childhood in safety,鈥� said Rensby.
