Our Opportunity to Make a Difference in the Lives of Refugees
- Feb 25, 2025
- 2 min read
As part of Refugee Shabbat, DJC has been invited to participate in a multi-faith initiative to raise funds for a volunteer collective called “HIVE.” Refugee Shabbat is an opportunity for congregations to express their solidarity with the global Jewish movement for refugee protection and welcome. “We used to help refugees because they were Jewish. Now we help refugees because we are Jewish.” (Mark Hetfield, President & CEO, HIAS)
HIVE helps LGBTQ+ people and their families flee persecution in Afghanistan and find safe haven in Canada through the legal refugee sponsorship process. LGBTQ+ people face grave danger in Afghanistan (see Human Rights Watch). Before they can come to Canada, these refugees wait a year or more in a neighbouring country, usually Pakistan. HIVE provides funding to cover their basic needs there (food, accommodation, medicine) because they can’t work legally. These needs are not met by any other organization.
We often feel powerless by the suffering and inhumanity in the world but this initiative allows us to do something concrete. Funds raised by our congregation will go directly to help Hawa (a pseudonym), a single mom, and her three daughters and one son. Hawa fled to Pakistan from Afghanistan to save her 12-year-old daughter Aryana (a pseudonym) from child marriage. Hawa was beaten unconscious for standing up for her daughter. If she is sent back to Afghanistan, she faces certain death.
In Afghanistan, women and girls cannot go outside their homes unaccompanied, uncover their faces in public, work, sing, or even talk in public. The latest edict forbids women from being glimpsed through the windows of their own homes. Together, we can help Hawa and her daughters escape this terrible fate.
If our congregation raises $1,440, HIVE can secure a passport for Aryana. She will need a passport to come to Canada.
If our congregation raises $4,300, HIVE can secure a Pakistani visa for one year for Aryana, so she has her legal paperwork. This will help keep her safer.
For every $1,000 our congregation raises, HIVE can cover Hawa and her four children’s basic living expenses for one month in Pakistan until they can come to Canada.
How to donate: To donate, please e-Transfer to hiveontario@gmail.com or send a cheque to:
HIVE c/o Jamie Flagal 351 Saint Clarens Ave. Toronto ON M6H 3W2
HIVE is not yet a registered charity and cannot issue tax receipts at this time. HIVE is 100% volunteer-run and has no administrative costs.
When to donate: You may donate any time but this initiative begins in February and runs until the end of Passover on April 20th. Please signify that you are a DJC member when making your donation. Thank you!
To learn more about HIVE or volunteer, please contact Jamie Flagal at jflagal@rogers.com or Dahlia Klinger at fango@rogers.com.
Thank you for making a difference.