An Orillia group is looking to help the victims of the Syrian refugee crisis.
The group called Mariposains for Syrian Refugees have been working since June to try and sponsor at least one family and to bring them to Orillia.
"I think we can all do something and save some lives,” says Richard Johnson. “This is a life and death situation for these children as we've seen in the media"
The group is planning to launch a crowdfunding campaign in the near future with the goal of bringing a family to the region by next summer.
Both the province and the federal government announced on Saturday funding to aid refugees. Johnson says he’s happy to see the governments providing more support to those affected by the crisis.
"People have to move beyond politics and think about the humanitarian aspects of what's going on."
Premier Kathleen Wynne says the Ontario government is pledging $10.5 million to the Syrian refugee crisis.
Wynne says the province hopes to resettle 10,000 refugees by the end of 2016, though she notes the provincial government doesn't have the power to sponsor those refugees.
Refugees have been fleeing Syria en masse since 2011 when the country spun into a civil war that is estimated to have taken more than 100,000 lives.
Wynne says that most of Ontario's contribution will help resettle Syrian refugees in the province, but she added that about $2 million will go to immediate humanitarian aide on the ground overseas.
Canada will be supplying additional humanitarian assistance for victims of the conflict in Syria.
International Development Minister Christian Paradis on Saturday announced that the federal government will match "eligible" Canadian donations up to $100 million under the Syrian Emergency Relief Fund.
That's in addition to $503.5 million in humanitarian assistance funding Canada has already allocated for humanitarian efforts in Syria and neighbouring countries since the beginning of Syria's civil war.
Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne commended the federal move Saturday while announcing her province is pledging $10.5 million to help more refugees settle in Ontario and support international relief efforts.
Wynne says $8.5 million over 2 1/2 years will go to support refugees, increase the number coming to Ontario, and help settle them once they arrive, while the remaining $2 million will be donated for humanitarian efforts.
Canadians have flooded the United Nations children's agency with an outpouring of cash in the week since the image of a dead Syrian boy on a Turkish beach shocked the world on Sept. 2.
Four million people have fled Syria since the conflict broke out in 2011 and while their plight has captured headlines over time, it wasn't until that photograph that Canadians coalesced around the need for action.
The government says Canadian aid has already helped provide relief items to more than 3.25 million people in Syria, food assistance to 4.16 million people inside Syria, and clean water to 16.5 million people in Syria.
With files from The Canadian Press.
