Canadian singer-songwriter Elly Thorn was inspired to write “You Didn’t Even Know Me” when she and her husband were travelling and, although their surroundings were foreign to them, she was struck by how extremely welcoming their hosts were. Now Elly is using her song to help welcome Syrian refugees to their new home in Canada – with proceeds from the song going to the Canadian Red Cross.

It has been one year since we began welcoming Syrian refugees to help them build new, more stable lives in Canada. With your help, the Canadian Red Cross was able to partner with organizations that support refugees across the country, such as the Immigrant Community Support Centre in Montreal, to help Syrian families settle and integrate into their new community. 

The Round-up offers a weekly sample of what our sister Red Cross Societies are working on around the world. Here is an update on Red Cross response to disasters in Syria, Niger and Korea.

In photos, we take a look at the dedicated work of Syrian Arab Red Crescent volunteers in a time of turmoil. Aleppo and other cities in Syria have been impacted by conflict for the past five years, but volunteers have dedicated their time to helping others throughout.

Around the world, the Red Cross movement protects people who have been forced to flee their homelands in search of safety. Here is a snapshot of our work over the past year.   

​Every year on June 20th, World Refugee Day commemorates the perseverance of refugees and calls on the world to stand with those forced to leave their homes. At the Canadian Red Cross, programs like First Contact, in Vancouver and Toronto, and Restoring Family Links make a difference in the lives of refugees. This year, for World Refugee Day, we are highlighting some of the great stories of hope and survival from our blog in the past year.

Canadian Red Cross President and CEO Conrad Sauvé recently returned from a trip to Syria and the surrounding region. See what he brought back from his trip. 

End of mission is a time of deep reflection and slow adjustment. When I was deployed to Germany as a Canadian Red Cross delegate, my life changed drastically. Working as an interpreter in a German Red Cross transit camp for refugees, I experienced a complete shift in lifestyle. I went from a quiet 9-5 to non-stop 12 hour shifts, welcoming a thousand refugees every night. I adjusted quickly because the rapid pace of response left no room for easing in. When the end of my mission came, I braced myself for another major life change: going back to normal.