Well here’s a cool thing: Lush and Amnesty International Canada have teamed up to make Syrian refugees settling in Canada feel welcome.
But how? Well, via a pretty big goal: they hope to raise $450 000 between February 16 and February 28 through sales of the limited edition Hands of Friendship soap, with all proceeds going into the Friendship Fund created by Lush cosmetics. Then, the money will be distributed to groups in North America helping to settle refugees.
“The war and violence experienced by Syrians forced to flee their homes is heartbreaking,” Carleen Pickard, Campaigner at Lush Cosmetics, said in a statement. “In addition to offering financial resettlement support, we will inspire our customers to welcome Syrians and petition the Canadian government to support more refugees to come to Canada.”
So on top of this, Lush will also dedicate their store windows to welcoming refugees in Arabic — and the company is encouraging Lush customers to sign welcome postcards to newly arrived refugees and to engage socially with the hashtag, #RefugeesWelcome. Which is super important, according to Alex Neve, Secretary General of Amnesty International Canada.
“For families that have lost everything, arrival and settlement can be very challenging,” he said. “For more than two years, Amnesty International has been pressing the international community to dramatically improve the measures in place for protecting Syrian refugees, including more funding and better programs for refugees in neighbouring countries and more generous commitments to resettle refugees to third countries like Canada. This partnership with Lush allows us to amplify our voice in an effort to change public opinion and welcome refugees into our country.”
So! You can help by picking up Hands of Friendship soap, and by being a good person who publicly supports the arrival and settlement of refugees. Easy! Helping! You can do it!
Visit amnesty.ca/lush to sign the online petition to the Canadian government, urging them to keep their commitment.
