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Refugee Project raises about $3,000 through haircuts

Cuts for a Cause took place at the Alliance Church Aug. 26
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The recent Cuts for a Cause fundraiser raised roughly $3,000 for the Sylvan Lake Refugee Project.

Over the six hours the event went on, more than 30 people came out for a haircut by donation.

Teresa Clark, an organizer for the fundraiser, said the event was really well attended by locals.

“I didn’t really keep track of how many came but the girls were steady over the course of the six hours,” Clark explained.

Clark estimated the two professional hairdressers, Jen Smith and Davalyn Clark, had about five or six customers an hour over the day.

All haircuts were done for a donation and accommodated people of all ages.

Clark estimates the donations added up to roughly $3,000 for the project.

“It was a really good day. It was really awesome,” she said.

The money raised from the event goes towards expenses for the four refugee families expected to come to Canada by the end of the year.

The Project will be helping the families settle into Canadian life while they search for jobs and become accustomed to the country.

As a private sponsor, the Sylvan Lake Refugee Project is responsible for taking care of the families for the first year they are in Canada.

“We’ll be paying their expenses for the next year. That can be things like housing, utilities and food,” Clark explained.

So far there have been a lot of donations toward the project.

Many of the donations have come in a tangible form such as clothing and furniture.

Clark says they are pretty much set when it comes to items like that.

“We are now trying to ensure we have everything else covered, the intangibles.”

For those interested, Clark said it is possible to donate a month of rent.

This is not the last fundraising event the Refugee Project has lined up.

Later this fall, the Sylvan Lake Refugee Project will be hosting a talent show that will be set up in a similar style to America’s Got Talent.

“We are still in the planning stage for that one, but we are planning to have it in November,” Clark said.

Spots in the talent show are awarded through auditions. Auditions for a spot in the show will be Oct. 2-3 from 5-9 p.m. at the Alliance Community Church.

Auditions can be done for both group and solo acts. The deadline to register for an audition is Sept. 22.

“We’ve already got people signing up to audition,” Clark said.

Currently those involved in the Refugee Project are not sure when the families will be arriving in Canada.

The Canadian Government told them it could be at any point within a year of putting in the application. The Sylvan Lake Refugee Project put in their applications for the families last December.

Currently the group is working under the belief the families will be arriving before the end of the year.

“We will probably get very little notice of their arrival. It could be as little as two weeks notice,” explained Clark.

The next fundraiser, Sylvan’s Got Talent, will be held Nov. 3 at the Gospel Chapel.