Remember Syrian migrants this Thanksgiving, Canadian health clinic urges

This Thanksgiving, a refugee health clinic wantsto remind Torontonians that for Syrian refugees, there is no holiday, no turkey dinner, nor even aplace to call home.

The Canadian Centre for Refugee and Immigrant Health Care wants Canadians to declare this Thanksgiving one dedicated to refugee care.

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The clinic will host a fundraising walk on Saturday but the centre's founding medical directorsaid he hopes that Canadians will take a moment to reflect on the abundance at their own Thanksgiving tables and then consider what can be done to help the refugees fleeing the Middle East and North Africa.

"It's not about a big fancy event," Dr. Paul Caulford said. "But we're hoping to ignite a national conversation, locally... anddiscuss what can be done ... at a grassroots level to provide a meaningful response [and] to generate real meaningful support."

More than money

Caulford said donations of money are needed, but he also wants to urge people to act on their local level, whether it's volunteering or writing to politicians.Those actions can facilitate programs, changes to policy that will impact refugees, he said.

The image of three-year-old Alan Kurdi, whose body washed ashore in Turkey during the crossing from Greece, became seared onto the Canadian consciousness and put the plight of refugees into the national spotlight. It's that emotion that Caulford wants to turn into action, adding that ordinary Canadians are "a mile head" of the government when it comes to their reaction to the migrant crisis.

"We see an ungenerous response that is starkly in contrast to what Canada is made of and who we are as a nation," he said of the government's actions.

The Canadian Centre for Refugee and Immigrant Health Care is located at4158 Sheppard Ave. E. The walk,run or bike is five kilometres, and is scheduled to start at 10 a.m., with the family version of the walk, run or bike, which is one kilometre, starting at 10:30 a.m.