11 Great Things Canadians Have Done So Far For Syrian Refugees

“Welcome to Canada, a land of kindness,” reads a note written by a boy named Jake for a Syrian refugee child he’s never met.

Jake’s note is one of 56 other letters, all slipped into separate bags collected by former B.C.-based columnist Laila Yuile for Operation Backpack. Locals have helped fill each backpack with donated pens, crayons, notebooks, and stickers.

This is just one story pulled from the thousands of little and large acts of kindness being performed to welcome the 25,000 Syrian refugees expected to arrive in Canada by the end of February.

Here are 11 of our favourite stories about how some people are choosing to step up with kind and generous gestures to integrate Syrians in communities across the country.