A local firefighters charity has donated laptops to Surrey school district's department supporting newcomer students, who would otherwise have restricted access to technology.
Surrey Fire Fighters' Charitable Society made the donation to Surrey Schools' Welcome Centre, which helps both new immigrant and refugee students and their families and English Language Learner students. In total, the charity was able to gift 190 refurbished laptops to the students.
“This is going to help my family a lot in learning English,” newcomer parent Hussein Shate said in a press release.
Speaking with the district through a translator, Shate expressed his gratitude and for his five children attending schools in Surrey after arriving from Somalia.
“My oldest daughter will use it for her education and when she goes to school. Now she won’t feel left out.”
The firefighters group worked in partnership with Spence Foundation and the Surrey Mayor Evening of Giving organizations to provide the technology to the youth.
The Welcome Centre works to provide school supplies to the students they support, but having enough technology is often a challenge, the release notes.
Oftentimes, newcomers come to Canada with few resources and therefore, technology is typically not within reach.
Another parent, Mohammad Sadeq Hotaki, thanked the organizations for their donations, adding “This computer will be used by my daughter for school, to learn about English, school applications, and society.”
Anyone interested in donating to students or schools in the district can contact the major gifts and endowments department's manager Vanessa Seco at seco_v@surreyschools.ca or 604-595-6074.
