Vancouver Foundation

Find out if there's a Neighbourhood Small Grants program in your area at vancouverfoundation.ca/nsg. You can also help support Neighbourhood Small Grants with a donation. Call Calvin in Donor Services at 604.629.5357 for more information. It's certainly true at the late summer dinner at Reed's home, as people stay long after dessert (a version of baklava with shredded phyllo pastry, pistachios and honey, loosely translated as "Between the Fire"), chatting beside tall torchlights. Aldakhlallah's two sisters, Mari and Claire, are here from Victoria with their families, including one small curly-haired boy who was born just months before the family's arrival in Canada. All of them glow with the energy of reunion. e past year has been full of challenge, says Aldakhlallah, but she knows that she and her mother have come a long way. "We always give thanks for the people who brought us here," she tells the group, translating for her mom. "ey give us hope to start a new life. And we really consider them as part of our family now." p a g e 1 6 I V a n c o u v e r F o u n d a t i o n l 2 0 1 7 In November 2015, the idea of sponsoring a Syrian family came up at one of these gatherings, and someone asked Reed if she would organize it. She wasn't sure if the community could do it, but 17 people showed up for the first meeting. e group went on to raise $40,000, and one member rented her basement suite to Aldakhlallah and Shabo. After they arrived, it didn't take long for Reed to witness Shabo's talents in the kitchen. She thought that a cooking class would be a great way to connect and help the women practise their English vocabulary. Shabo immediately loved the idea. With the help of a Vancouver Foundation Neighbourhood Small Grant of $450, they held the first class in December 2016 with about 18 people at a neighbour's home. Shabo smiles in recognition when Reed shares a story about her particular attention to detail: after participants in the class tried to cut parsley for tabbouleh, she put it aside and brought out a stash of her own – the students weren't slicing finely enough. en, Shabo was asked to prepare food for 200 people at a Vancouver Foundation event called My Mother's Home, at which she was one of four refugee and immigrant mothers to speak about her experience. She also made full menus for several private dinners. While Aldakhlallah hadn't been terribly interested in cooking before, she helped her mother, and they began to talk about starting a catering business. By August 2017, they started sketching out a business plan for their company, A Taste of Damascus, looking at commercial kitchens and planning menus. Members of the sponsorship group with business skills offered to help them apply for a GST number and plan a budget. "Sometimes I want my mom to be a little more brave, to speak," Aldakhlallah says. "Before, she was the cook, she gives direction to everybody. But here in a foreign country, it's different. So this is a way for her to have a job. She really feels happy when she cooks something and she sees how people eat and how they really like it."

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