Maariyaah Shaheen
Canadian couple Samantha Jackson and Farzin Yousefian transformed their $10,000 dream wedding into a modest banquet, donating almost all of their savings to sponsor a Syrian refugee family after a heart-breaking picture of a lifeless Syrian child washed up on a beach.
The couple tied the knot, after 5 years of engagement at Toronto City Hall. Having much investment from family and friends; bouquets and invitations were personally made thus reducing the cost of the wedding borderline minimal.
“The way it all came together quickly created an opportunity for friends and family to get involved directly and passionately,” Jackson said. “We feel like we made the right decision. After our civil ceremony, we felt like it was very true to what we wanted our marriage to symbolize and how we wanted to start new life as a couple.”
It’s not only the beautiful intention that both the couple had begun with that’s amazing but also the sheer extent to which they encouraged guests to donate also.
Thanks to their friends, family, and venue, the couple has raised $17,500 for the project to date and have continued to their ambition to raise a further $10,000, enough for a family of four to resettle in Canada.
Upon resonation, what we learn is that humanity is not only a concept that lies only in the hands of government authorities and power but as individuals we too have a moral responsibility and much of a role to play in humanity than those with governmental power. What we have is the ability to give; not only our money and assets but our time. To give our thoughts, to give our concerns and transform these very affective components into tangible realities and sacrificing something we have for the better of others. “People need to be reminded that a humanitarian crisis requires a humanitarian response.”
