SyriaWe’ve told you before about a community fundraising drive to help Syrian refugees.

Thursday, the mayor announced two large families will be coming here from a refugee camp in Lebanon within the next four months.

The community fundraising effort is 36 Thousand dollars to date and that’s enough Al McDonald says to bring two families with 9-12 members in each one to North Bay.

He says the feds are paying 40 per cent of the cost under this sponsorship program.

McDonald says he’s not surprised that the community has stepped up for people that need our help.

He says this speaks to the fact that people are suffering and people want to make a difference for them.

McDonald says the size of the donations ranged from 20 dollars to 10 Thousand.

The campaign isn’t over and if you would like to help contact the North Bay and District Multi Cultural Center at www.nbdmc.ca

Deborah Robertson is going to be the new director of the multi cultural center.

She says the response has been outstanding.

Robertson says this is a great way for people to show support for those who are dealing with a global crisis.

Robertson says once here they will be an important part of the process as the new refugees get used to a new community.

She says they will help them settle into schools, helping them find jobs and introduce them to the social fabric of North Bay.