Eight Hundred Volunteers and a Promise

In the summer of 2015, in Guelph, Ontario, a businessman did a calculation.

His name was Jim Estill. He ran Danby, an appliance company.

Every day, the news showed families fleeing the war in Syria. And every day, he also heard voices that wanted to close the doors.

His calculation was simple. It took about $30,000 to support a family of five for a year. For 50 families, that came to $1.5 million. He could afford it.

At first, he told no one.

In September 2015, he made some calls. To three churches. To a mosque. To a Hindu temple. To a synagogue. To the Salvation Army.

The Muslim Society of Guelph took on the paperwork and the organizing of volunteers. Its president, Muhammed Sayyed, remembers thinking that there were still people like him.

Within a month, more than 800 people offered to help. Jim Estill divided them into eight teams. After all, he reasoned, he already ran a company with 800 employees.

On November 24, 2015, the local paper told the story of his project. The article was translated into Arabic. Soon, refugees were writing to him directly.

The families arrived, one by one. They were housed in university residences, apartments, and a former office building converted into eight homes. So many donations poured in that a warehouse had to be rented for furniture and clothing.

At the start, there were 50 families. There would be 58, about 220 people.

But Jim Estill did not want only to sign cheques. He wanted the families to be able to work, pay for their groceries, speak English. At Danby, he created a three-month program: warehouse work, and English classes twice a week.

Ahmad became a mechanic. Tony became a cook. Youssef bought a dollar store franchise. Nadeen worked at the University of Guelph. "But one day I'll be a real Canadian," she said.

When asked why he did all this, Jim Estill answered:

One man took the first step. But it was 800 neighbours, of every faith, who opened the door together.