Mississauga high school transformed into donation storehouse for Syrian refugees

You could almost mistake it for a warehouse.

But it's actually ahighschoolwherethehallwaysarestockpiledwith clothing, bedding and furnitureall insupport of Syrian refugees.

It all started when Greg Maule, a grade 12 student at Port Credit Secondary School in Mississauga, saw a horrificimagethat flashed around the world: the photo ofthree-year-oldAlan Kurdi, found dead on a Turkish beach.

"Over the summer, one picture really meant something to me and it was the picture of the boy who washed up on the shores,"Maulesaid.

Moved by the growing number of people displaced by the refugee crisis, hefelt he had to act.

"Knowingthat we were having these refugees show up in Canada, Iwanted tomake sure that when they came they'd have things for them."

So he asked the school's principal if they could do something to help.

The school put up a sign outside its doors and sent out a call to the communityhoping to generate some goodwill for their cause.

'My heart was so full'

In just four weeks, the school's hallways turned into astockpile of household items.

The principal at Riverside Public School, Paul Officer,says the children there have been dropping off donations at Port Credit for the past four weeks.

"Wealways get a good response for local food donations but this has been absolutely overwhelming. I've never seen a response like this. It's really heartwarming."

Parent volunteer Gaye Gould said the drive has brought the community together in some surprising ways.

"One day we had a whole bunch of grandparents They didn't have children here or grandchildren but remembering the refugees that came as boatpeoplein the 70s, they wanted to get involved this time too,"Gould said. "My heart was so full."

Also a surprise to Gould is the number of students who've come in early to school hauling with them bags of clothing to add to the steadilyfilling hallways.

"Most teenagers would not want to be seen on a Mississauga bus carrying a garbage bag full of clothes but they did it and I was just blown away by that," Gould said.

A school-full of donations

So how do you move a school-full of donations?

The school enlisted the help of a five-tonnetruck from the Salvation Army. The organizationwill help sort and organize the donations before transporting them to Lifeline Syria,a group thatspearheaded the effort earlier this year to help private groups sponsor Syrian refugees.

For Maule, knowing that his efforts will go toward making refugees' new homes feel like home is the most important part of all.

"If I went home and my house had just been blown up it's the place I go to at night to sleep, it's the place where I feel safe. For something like that to be destroyed in a matter of seconds, I don't know how that would feel,"Maulesaid.