A number of Sutton residents have come together to form the comité Réfugiés Ukrainiens Sutton to provide support and raise funds for the refugee families that are expected to come to Canada from the Ukraine. Made up of various volunteers from different backgrounds, the citizens group will help any families that decide to settle in the area with finding full-time jobs, learning the French and English languages, finding temporary or permanent housing, accessing education, and any other needs.

“Liane Bruneau – who is involved in a lot of different things in Sutton and knows me quite well – called myself, three other former mayors, plus a bunch of citizens in Sutton, roughly 20 people, to a meeting a few weeks ago to see what we could do or if we would  be willing to participate in a group to bring refugees in Sutton if the case could be done,” said Kenneth Hill, former mayor for the Town of Sutton and member of the committee.

Hill said that even if the war came to an end in near future, it’s devastating impacts will ripple through the country. The committee wants to help these families that do decide to come to Canada to settle in the area.

“Even if the war was to finish tomorrow morning, by what we see on TV and through the media the devastation is unreal. There are cities that are completely gone. So, depending on what happens there we’ll cross those bridges when we come to it if the families do come here,” noted Hill.

The committee has various priorities for helping families settle and feel comfortable in its community, including securing temporary and permanent housing. To accomplish this, the committee is collaborating with different groups in Sutton and it has the full support of the municipality.

“The CAB – which is the Centre Action Bénévole (volunteer centre) – who do the meals on wheels and take care of helping families and all that, are partnered up with us at the Catholic church. The Catholic church, with its charter, can obviously take care of the financing in the sense that we are going to be doing the financing ourselves, but people who want to give donations that either want receipts or tax receipts we can emit them if the cheques are issued to the CAB or other organizations with charters.”

Its current fundraising goal is $45,000. Its most recent event at Sutton brewery L'Abordage raised over $6,000 and other fundraising events are making their way around the corner.

One event will be held on April 30 at the Sutton Legion and there will be a concert held at the Catholic church on May 7.

“We all just have to think, how much does it cost us with a family of three or four to maintain a standard of living. There are other costs coming along with this of education, maybe some private tutors. Yes, we have a lot of volunteers, but three-month volunteering and two-year volunteering is a different thing,” said Hill.

Those that want to join the Comité Refugé Ukraine Sutton, or wish to donate, can call the Sutton Tourist office at 450-538-8455 or Église Saint-André de Sutton at 450-538-3215.

“We’re now basically waiting for the families to come,” said Hill.